Shadows of Them
by MajesticBurn
Summary: ArmadaCybertron Why didn't Fred and Billy appear in Energon? Where are all the original people in Cybertron? And why didn't the Autobots mention their previous missions to earth to Kobe and Lori? Mild instance of language Ch16 up!
1. The things we do

A short little introduction to my "Shadows of Them" multi-chapter fic. This chapter takes place at the very begining of Energon, but the Majority of the fic takes place in the Cybertron series and connects Armada, Energon, and Cybertron. Also incorperates my explination why Fred and Billy weren't in Energon (if it explained in the series something different I'm sorry; I've only seen a few episodes of Energon) Tell me what you think! Reviews are appreciated, but not neccesarily needed.

**

* * *

**

Shadows of Them

The things we do

Fred answered the phone, his toddler daughter playing nearby. "Hello?"

"Fred! They're back! They need our help again and-"

It was Alexis. It had been about ten years since they had last seen the "them" she was talking about. His son was actually about five, and his daughter was barely one. He was 24, and had met the "them" when he was in seventh grade (he and his best friend Billy had been held back twice beforehand).

He let Alexis babble about how great everything was, and how she couldn't wait for the whole gang to get back together. He wondered if Billy would go, or any of the others. But Billy had two little boys at home, would Billy risk everything for them? Could he?

He waited for Alexis to calm down, and waited until she said those four little words that he knew it would hurt to answer, "When are you coming? I already talked to Rad and Carlos-"

"I'm sorry Alexis. But I just… I just can't. I've got a family now, and I can't risk them getting hurt. I can't do it. I'm sorry."

She was silent a moment, then lowered her voice, "Billy said the same thing, it's alright. I understand why you can't. But I will call you guys from time to time to let you know how things are progressing."

"Thank you Alexis." Shortly after he hung up and sat down on the couch, glancing at his little girl, "My sweet little angle; I know you would've had fun with my friends… but I can't endanger you. I love you… my little Lori."

It wasn't long before the phone rang once again, "Hello?"

"Hey Fred, long time no almost-get-blown-up-together."

He couldn't help but chuckle, "Hey Bill, Alexis told me you turned down her offer too." There was a sudden… understanding silence between them, but he felt he had to say _something_, "So Billy, how your boys doing? Tim started school a little while ago didn't he? And what about the younger one, how's he doing? What was his name?"

"Kobe, his names Kobe, Fred." They both laughed a little, reminded of how forgetful and gullible Fred used to always be.

"Right, well… How's he doing?"

"Great. He's doing great…" The conversation drained away for a long while, before Billy finally said, "I talked to my wife, and pretty soon we're gonna try for a girl, she feels outnumbered as it is… I take pity on her if we have another boy."

Fred laughed a little, and they began talking about normal things, pretending like the friends they'd been waiting for, for ten years, hadn't returned; and also ignoring the fact that the friends were giant alien robots. Fred couldn't help but make a weak smile when he looked at his children, thinking to himself, _Boy the things we do… for loved ones…_

* * *

So? How is it so far? Advice is appreciated, however flames that simply say "I hated it because i think your story sucks" will be blaitently ignored due to the fact that people whom write those are useless to fanfiction society. Get it through you're stinking heads! **THAT ISN"T USEFUL!** Thank you for reading. 


	2. Just like me

Mostly a information chaper kinda telling what happened in the last ten years; there will be one more major suprise about the last ten years in a later chapter, and the last names I used were their actual last names in the show. And theend of thechapter is just setting up for chapter 3. Enjoy, and tell me what you actually think please and thank you ;)

* * *

Shadows of Them

Just like me

Fred loved time with his daughter, telling her edited stories about his child hood, "At the time, we all thought 'Lexie was gonna kill us, we all thought someone else had told her about the camping trip, but now it actually seems kinda funny… 'course… because we forgot, she forgot to warn us that it was going to be stormy all weekend. Luckily for me an Billy, Rad was there to talk us out of riding the rapids."

Lori smiled, proud that she wasn't as gullible to the dangers of such a thing as he had apparently been, "So what happened?"

"Well, we almost got buried in a mudslide, then we had to get outt'a there before they opened the floodgates."

"How many of you guys were there?"

"Uh… eight of us I think, been so long now though… haven't seen most of the bo-" _(was about to say bot)_ "… Boys… in oh… twenty years. Huh…" he looked as though he couldn't believe it had been so long.

"Well Daddy, I have to go. My friends are waiting for me! And I really do enjoy hanging out with you, but…"

He waved his hand, "It's alright sweetheart. Go, play, just be home in time for dinner tonight."

Lori smiled had hugged him briefly, waving good-bye to her father; sprinting off toward Autobot headquarters. He knew where she was going; he had snooped in her back-pack enough to know what was going on. He would've confronted her about it; but he didn't want to have to explain how he knew. Plus he'd be a hypocrite if he told her not to when he did when he was her age.

"Freddy, honey! William's here to see you!" his wife called from downstairs.

"Send him on up Dear."

It was only about a minute before Billy came in, "Hey Fred; I'm guessing Lori ran off to see the guys again?"

"Yep. Oh, to be in that naive time period when you know stuff can go terribly wrong; but you never think you'll get hurt just because they're protecting you…"

Bill chuckled at the reality of the statement, also marveling at how much the two had grown in a mere 20 years. "Oh yes, the invincible state of mind, while all the while trying to prove your grown up… the most dangerous time period in ones life but…"

"Hey, at least we know they aren't going to be serious hoodlums, they have an after school activity after all."

"We had the same after school activity and were still always getting into trouble… Remember though… after they left… we tore the school apart, fighting and skipping… I hope the kids don't get too attached… those guys can never tell anyone what's going on, and they eventually have to leave…"

They were silent for a long wile, nether sure what to say. Fred finally broke the silence, "Did you hear? Mr. and Mrs. White are expecting another little monster, and they still live in the same building as the Lopez's!"

Bill laughed outright, "Yeah… But if Rad and Alexis are having another, is Carlos still only going to have little Emily?"

"For now anyway, it doesn't sound like Sara wants an "extra" baby. They sent me an email of them; Rusty's getting to be a big kid now… must be insanity around there."

"Yeah. Well, I just stopped by to check up, I ought to get back to work…"

"You aren't the only one! See you around Bill."

——

Lori ran inside, cheerful and energetic, "I'm home...! Hello? Anybody here?" She looked around, no one was in site, _What is going on?_

"Lori! Where the hell were you!" her brother shouted at her, running up to her and pulling her into a hug.

"What's going on? Where are Mom and Daddy?" She was getting an uneasy and almost sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Grab some cloths Lori… Dad's in the hospital…"

Her heart dropped lower in that one moment than it had ever dropped over time in her entire life.

* * *

Dun-dun-dun-dun! Well? What do ya'll think? Lemme know if ya got the time! 


	3. Revelation

Just a quick little chapter; explaining why Lori was called to the hospital, and what was wrong with Fred. It'll probably be a few chapters before I Explain about Kicker and them; mostly 'cause it's sad and I don't wanna write it. Enjoy!

* * *

Shadows of Them

Revelation

Lori dragged her feet into Autobot headquarters, not looking at anyone, acting as if she was in another world. _They couldn't possibly understand_, she thought, still avoiding everyone's gaze. No one had even noticed the huge gold-and-purple sweater she was wearing- it was long enough to go down past her knees and clearly had been both worn out, and worn by someone with quite a stomach. Meanwhile, Kobe and Bud were laughing and joking with Jolt about meaningless nonsense. Oh what an oh-so-wonderful day to know giant robots who could never understand your problems; and one of them being practically your best friend.

Override glanced down at Lori, she seemed rather distant and pre-occupied; she'd been standing still for about ten minutes. "Lori? Are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah… I'm fine…"

Override folded her arms, "What's wrong "little sister"? I know you aren't alright. Why haven't you been here for the past few days?"

Tears fell down Lori's face, but she refused to answer.

"Lori? Why are your eyes leaking?" Jolt asked, concern in his voice.

"Yeah Lori, what's wrong? And why haven't you been at school?" Bud interjected.

"And why are you wearing your dad's sweater? It's almost 80 degrees out!" Kobe added.

She broke down at hearing him say "dad's". She was crying openly, not even able to see their shocked faces. She was choking on her own tears, barely muffling out, "My Dad…"

"What happened?" Override bent down, concerned for her "little sister".

"H-He had a heart attack a few-few days ago…" She somehow managed to say between sobs. "He-he's in the hospital s-still…" Override gawked, she didn't know the exact problem, but it was clear that Lori's father was very sick.

"Lori…" none of them knew what to say, and she was sobbing uncontrollably.

"Did the doctors say anything about his condition?" Red Alert asked, none of them knowing how long he'd been standing there.

"J-just that so long as he doesn't have another one or go into cardiac arrest that he _should_ recover… but they said theirs always the chance that he… that he'll…" her sobs became worse, and she was clearly having trouble breathing because of it.

"Take deep breaths; if you lose consciousness and your father find out; you'll just add to his stress, and that won't help his condition any." Red Alert advised, remembering that Fred had once told him about this sort of thing. She nodded half-heartedly, trying to do as asked. Red Alert suddenly thought she looked remarkably alike Fred, an unexpected thought hitting him full force, but repressing it indefinitely.

After calming down, Lori pulled a small box out of the huge sweater pocket, hugging it slightly. "What's that Lori?" Kobe asked, desperate to change the subject, and curious.

"Something an old friend of my dad's gave me this morning… She said my dad asked her and her husband to make it because he was worried that I'd do the same thing they did when they were our age; I can't understand it though… And I'm kinda afraid to find out what she meant…"

"Well, you'll never know if you don't open it." Bud pointed out.

She let out a half-hearted smile, suddenly very glad she had such close friends. "You're right Bud; well… here goes nothing."

She opened the box tenderly, careful not to damage anything. Inside was a small cube shaped metal with seemingly hundreds of buttons; almost like just a bunch of strips of metal welded together. She turned it round and round finally finding a button that actually would push in. She tenderly poked it, and all the metal fell away in a blur; replaced by a tiny robot, small enough to fit in the palm of her hand more than easily, and looked like it had tiny wings. It stood up and smiled at Lori, and in a soft, delicate, distinctly feminine voice said tenderly, yet all too perky; "Hi-hi! You must be Lori; I'm Lazerbeak programming number 001; nice to meet you!"

* * *

Well? What do ya'll think? Short I know, but… meh. Review, don't review, I don't care; I have cookies! 


	4. Truth

I don't care what the Japanese say about shows, it's the English that counts; until I watch it in Japanese; then it half-counts.

I don't own transformers...I wish I did...

* * *

Shadows of Them

Truth

"Lazerbeak project?" Red Alert whispered in shock.

"Uh-huh! Professor White and Professor White designed me form the Autobot program Lazerbeak. I'm the first of a few that have begun being programmed!" The small robot moved so she was standing on Lori's finger tips.

"Wait-wait-wait…You were created, by my dad's friend, from an Autobot program?" it nodded, "How in the universe did my dad's friend get Autobot technology!"

"Your daddy never told you? He knew the Autobots when he was your age."

"WHAT!" All three children, Jolt, and Override all shouted in unison. Red Alert merely gaped; he knew what was coming next.

The little robot fell over into Lori's palm, covering her audios, optics welling up, "Owie… not so loudie-oudie…" She suddenly seemed to notice the surprised Red Alert, and appeared to momentarily scan through her data banks, she suddenly smiled; "You're Red Alert! You're the doctor-bot!"

Everyone turned their gaze to him. He seemed to think a moment, and then muttered, "I knew we should've told the kids sooner. I'm assuming her Father is Fred?"

"Yep-ep!"

"How the heck do you know my dad's name!"

"Lori; listen to me. We always meant to tell you children about our mission to earth twenty years ago; but-" Red Alert began, however Lori didn't want to hear it.

"Shutup-shutup-shutup!" She looked almost betrayed; tears welling in her already red and slightly puffy eyes. "You lied. Optimus lied. You all lied!" her lip was quivering, she was terrified that her father knowing that she was involved with them had been a catalyst in his heart attack.

Jolt tried to pat her gently on the shoulder, but she pushed away, "Lori please, calm down. It isn't like-"

"Shut up! Leave me alone! I can't believe you!" She almost threw the little bot on the floor (it's "wings" saved it, then it grabbed Lori's coat) and ran away, heading for the exit passing Hotshot along the way.

"Hey Lori what's-"

"You're all liars!" she screamed, running further from the Autobot.

"What'd I do!" he shouted back.

"Hotshot, she knows."

"Knows what Red?"

"Red Alert; tell us what's going on!" Kobe shouted, Bud nodding furiously in agreement.

Red Alert sighed, "Alright, I should start at the beginning now shouldn't I? Alright… four million years ago…"

* * *

Lori flopped down on her bed; crying like no tomorrow. The little bot sat on her pillow, patting her on the head, cooing soft calming words in her ear. "It's alright Lori. Your father was afraid that he would seem like a hypocrite if he told you to stay away from them. Please try to understand…"

Lori say up, picked up the little bot, hugging it gently. When she let her go she looked at her and whispered, "What do I call you?"

The little bot "blinked" then said, "Lazerbeak program number-"

"No. You need a real name. Hum…how about Zipline?"

"Zipline… I love it! I am Zipline! You can call me Zip, or Zippy, or-"

"Sh-sh… sh-sh…" Lori whispered, "Zipline it is. Welcome. Welcome home Zipline."


	5. Twenty Years in the making

There! I finally explained what happed to Kicker and his family; now you all are going to hate me. Enjoy!

* * *

Shadows of Them

Twenty years in the making

Lori entered her dad's hospital room; Zipline tucked away in her pouch, having been told last night that Zipline transformed into a cell phone. Her father smiled at her and opened her arms into a hug motion. She fell into his arms, hugging him closely. He patted her back, and then whispered, "I suppose you got the little gift I asked Alexis to get to you?"

She nodded into his chest, absently reaching into her pouch and pulling Zipline out. She transformed and fluttered up, sitting on her head. The brace broke, and Fred looked over Zipline, smiling, "She turned out better than I expected when I asked Alexis to build her."

"Her name is Zipline. Thank you soooooooo much dad! I never really thought I'd ever have a friend that I get along with this much…"

He chuckled, "I told Alexis almost everything she'd need to know about you. She's designed to be your friend."

Lori went quiet for a long while, finally whispering, "Is it my fault you had a heart attack?"

"No! No… not at all Lori. You see; when I was a kid I ate a lot of unhealthy stuff, and my cholesterol has never quite been the same since. If anything you and your brother being around helped me lose all that weight. I love you kids; you should know that."

"All those stories you told me…"

"Yes. With most of them the Autobots were involved. Ten years ago they had a secret allegiance with the government, and many humans became involved. But now…"

His sudden silence unnerved both Lori and Zipline, "…Dad? What happened to everyone? I-I mean… if so many people knew about them… then why hasn't any of them been contacted? Why don't the Autobots have help from more than a few humans?"

He sighed, having known that some day he would need to tell her. "…All right… Lori? There was a human; he had spent almost half his life involved with the Transformers… he met them when he was seven or eight years old… his father was a scientist… heh… kid had a bad temper… hated the bots for the longest time… ironic since his best friend was a Autobot… anyway… everyone knew he was a lose canon… but we never thought…"

"Dad? What happened?"

He shook his head; it was too horrible to say. Zipline knew what he was getting at; she had been programmed chock-full of knowledge of Autobot-related events. "He was the one who went berserker wasn't he?" she whispered timidly.

"Yes… his fiancé tried to warn us about his loss in stability… but everyone just figured… that being around everyone would help… no one who went their survived. Kicker is now a permanent resident at a mental institution… his fiancé didn't even survive… not his little sister either… I know this is all hard to sink in… but…"

"So the Autobots don't know what happened to their friends? They don't know-"

"No. and I wouldn't suggest being the barer of this type of bad news to Optimus. He won't just take that kind of thing kindly… First time I met him… never mind. Go play with your friends… Kobe and Bud probably are worried. Alexis is going to give them their 'friends' as soon as she can."

Zipline's wing's fluttered nervously; her optics wide, "But when Lori last saw them she yelled at them! They might not be happy to see her…"

"Tell ya what; they're letting me out of the hospital tomorrow… what do ya say that on the way home we make a stop with some old friends."

Her face brightened right up; "Really Daddy? You'd do that for me?"

"Sure. Plus the talk it'll probably do them some good too. I love you my little Lori-Ori. Now… how about filling me in on why they're here this time?"

* * *

"What?" Optimus was speechless. So Lori was Fred's daughter? And he knew all along that she was involved?

"It's true sir. Apparently Alexis and the others know as well; the only thing that has me puzzled is the fact that they knew yet stayed away from us." Red Alert answered; unsure of the cause.

"Maybe they're scared. Honestly; who would want to be involved in a war when they have the option to keep their family safe." Red Alert glared at Jetfire; not just because the bot had a point… also because he _knew_ what he was implying; how would he ever understand? He had never had Sparklings; his bonding partner had dropped off the face of the Universe true; but she occasionally made contact, never revealing were she was, but Jetfire had the safe knowledge that she was alive. How could he ever understand family?

"Maybe…" Red Alert grumbled, hating to admit that the self-centered 'bot was right.

"What Red? What'd I say?"

"Never you mind. Lori's probably going to end bringing Fred to see us when he's better; so we'd best prepare for a visitor." Red Alert couldn't get past his annoyance at Jetfire; or at himself. His bondmate was long dead. Twenty years had passed since she had been destroyed, and he still hadn't gotten over it. He had never told anyone; but she'd been with spark when she was destroyed, Hotshot had found out on accident, but had sworn on his life not to tell.

Too bad it was over. She had been a beautiful femme, to him anyway. He missed her more than anyone else who had died in the war. Not that he'd ever in his right mind admit it. "Red?"

Hotshot had interrupted his train of thought, "What Hotshot?"

"… I'm sorry. Common; lets get to work."


	6. Wait and See

_I have updated. Are all you Slaggin people happy now! Leave me alone! Let me do… whatever it is that I do in peace! Review if you like it, if you don't, slag you!_

* * *

Shadows of Them

Wait and See

Lori sat in the passenger seat of her dad's car; she had told him where the Autobot headquarters were, so he knew where to go. When she had told him where the base was, he laughed and said it was good that _someone_ was getting use out of that land. She was truly amazed with how well he was taking it, and couldn't wait for him to meet the team.

They had to park the car and walk quarter mile to the base entrance. When they got there, Bud and Kobe were just about to open the entrance. "Guys! You remember my Dad; an-"

Lori never got to finish. Bud and Kobe turned around and looked at her rather rudely, "Why'd you bring him here? Why are you here? You left and called them all liars! What makes you think they'll _let_ you back in their base?"

Fred squeezed Lori shoulder, "…Because Optimus is kind; and he understands that when people are angry or feel betrayed they say and do things they don't mean. Optimus isn't like that. It's alright, he'll understand."

"Are you sure about this Dad?"

"I can't wait to see them again; it's been a long time." Fred said slowly, glancing at the phone-transformed Zipline, "Don't worry, if Optimus tells me to stay out of this; I will."

* * *

"… Fred… I'm afraid that I don't know what to say…" Optimus was dumbfounded, he hadn't seen Fred in twenty years; and he had aged so much since he was that boy he knew.

Fred couldn't help but smile, "Well what do ya know… Optimus Prime? Speechless? This is a rarity. I can't remember more than once before when you were speechless." Optimus couldn't help but smile; leave it to Fred to lighten a shocked mood. Prime couldn't understand why he would be so calm after all this time. "You guys have all had a few upgrades since I last saw you. But I can tell mostly whose who. Though some of your vocal circuits sound a little different…"

Red Alert shook his head; it was a happy moment, but he couldn't help but feel terrible. He wished he could've been with _his_ family at that moment. Sure; he hadn't been bonded that long; but he still missed her with his entire spark. He had actually met her while on a mission to earth; her injured in med bay. It wasn't love at first sight or anything like that; but she grew on him. He couldn't stand to be near this happy family setting any longer. He started to leave.

"Hey Red Alert; where ya going?" Hotshot asked as the medic started to walk away.

"I-I need to think for a while. I should be back by sunset."

"Here? Or wherever it is your going." Hotshot joked.

* * *

Red Alert couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had somehow convinced himself to go back to the old base; and now he no longer knew why. The base had become run down and barely recognizable. But he still saw some old things that stung him deep down. He couldn't help but smile as all the fun times, and sad times. He walked into his old med bay, seeing the part where he had met his bondmate, and where so many of his fellows had spent their last moments.

Red Alert was suddenly overcome by a wave of depression. _So much life has been lost in this war… and for what? For a feud started by our long-dead ancestors. What is the point? Why can't anyone just get along. For Primus' sake!_ Red Alert's optics started to leak, he didn't know how much more loss he could take before he lost it entirely. In the last twenty years he had only lost his cool like this five times, none of them when anyone was around, thank Primus for that, but this felt different, like a more complete depression. One that forced him to admit what he truly felt, "I can't be involved in this war anymore. My spark is no longer in it. I don't know if it ever was… But how do I leave my friends without a medic?"

He suddenly noticed a shadow move out of the corner of his optics; even with liquid obstructing his vision. He spun around, hand on his weapon, coming face to face with a pair of blue-green optics, and a white helmet. It didn't take more than a few moments for him to recognize the femme before him. He dropped his gun and jaw, optics again welling. "How… but you… But I saw…"

She put a finger over his mouth, touching her helmet's "crest" to his at the same time. "I know Reddy. I know. But I want you to meet someone before I tell you what happened. Actually… two someone's…"

* * *

"… So… I guess not everyone will be getting back into contact with us… Thank you for telling us Fred." Optimus couldn't believe that Kicker would have done something like that… mass homicide as Fred had put it… it was one thing when an Autobot went berserker; they almost always were controllable, or at least restrain-able. But when a human did it… with no one around to stop him… he couldn't believe what he had been told.

"Don't worry Optimus. Knowing Rad and Alexis they'll want to be around you a lot… and introduce you to Rusty."

"Rusty…?" Hotshot didn't quite understand.

Fred smiled, "Rad and Alexis have a son; Rusty White."

"Whoa…"

"Optimus! Jetfire!" the base com-link showed a picture of a panicked Scattershot calling for help from the commanders.

"What is it _now_ Scattershot?" Jetfire growled, having only just joined the group talking to Fred.

"I can't contact Red Alert!"

"Calm down Mr. Neurotic." Hotshot chirped, "He probably just turned off his com. Why don't you try to find his signal?"

"But his signal dropped off the map! The last time I found his signal was a good two hours ago!"

"What?" a cold tone in Optimus' voice told everyone that this could be serious. 'Why didn't you report this sooner?"

"Sir… I think there was some foul play involved… For a long time I've been tracking what had almost his exact signal; but it isn't his! I-"

"Where were his last coordinates?"

"Uh… The first Autobot headquarters."

"Why would he go there?" Hotshot couldn't understand why Red Alert would go there.

"How am I suppose ta know?"

"Hotshot, Jetfire; lets go investigate what happened to our medic."

"Good by Optimus, and good luck. Lori and I should be heading home now... I'll give the boys a ride home too." Fred murmured; Optimus nodded as he and the others left for the launch bay.

* * *

"Man… it's been so long since we've been here…" Hotshot looked around through the entrance as if the base was delicate.

"Common; let's get this over with." Jetfire growled.

As soon as they entered they realized that there was light everywhere. All the lights were online, as were the computer screens, though they were all blank. All the automated doors were opening and closing continuously. Optimus looked around in confusion; what was going on?

"Guys! I found the thing that's giving off Red Alert's signal…! Wait… it's a… data pad?"

"Let me see that Hotshot…"

"It's written in ancient Cybertronian… Red Alert is the only 'bot in our ranks besides perhaps Vector Prime… I don't know… Let's bring it back to base… perhaps if we get this translated…"

* * *

"Well Vector? What does it say?" Optimus was curious beyond what he could show; and was afraid for his friend.

"… I've translated it Optimus… But you aren't going to like what it says…" He looked up from the data, shaking his head, "It's from Red Alert… It's an apology…"

"Apology? For what?"

"… For leaving. He says that he can't stand to lose another friend in this war. He says he's with a friend… and that if he hasn't returned in three days that he is never returning to the Autobot cause… that his "friend" knows something about the key to peace between Autobots and Decepticons… but… I just don't know. I'm sorry that I can't be of more assistance."

"I don't believe this… How could he abandon us?"

"Why would Red Alert do such a thing? Doesn't he realize that without him our entire team could literally fall apart?"

"He never exactly wanted to be involved in this war in the first place Hotshot. He joined the Autobots because he wanted to save lives, and figured that joining the team with the cause that best preserved life was a better cause. Red Alert hates war Hotshot. He hates how much life war costs… I'm amazed he waited until now to run off…"

"Sir… you make it sound like he's not coming back… ever…"

"Hotshot… I really don't think he's planning on returning."

"Bu-but why! The Red Alert I know wouldn't just run off for good without saying good-bye!"

"I agree with Hotshot Optimus. This just doesn't seem to add up right. What if this was staged so we wouldn't worry about him?" Scattershot piped up, a little afraid of what Optimus might say about it.

Optimus just shook his head, "Red Alert is probably attempting, in his own way to help… He would've only left like that with someone he trusted more than himself even… and there are only a few 'bots I can think of that fit that category… and the only ones that aren't in this base right now are either deactivated, or have been missing for a very long time.'

"So… what do we do?" Hotshot was worried about Red Alert, but didn't know what to do.

Optimus sighed, this was going to be chaotic, "Wait and see."

_Okay; the friend I was slaggin counting on to give me my homework from being sick had to go to stupid tai-quan-do… Slag you David! Well; anyway, it gave me time to finish and post this, so… bye-bye. R&R please. Or not. Whatever. Bye._


	7. Love in all its forms

There! Are you people happy now? I typed as fast as I could! Thank Primus I didn't have to do my Homework this weekend. No school next week and all. But enjoy! I wish I owned Transformers but I don't Whaa! That sucks. I wonder what would happen if Bill Gates bought transformers… Ooh… Creepy-evil thought. I own Ace, Cody, and that mysterious femme. Oh and Rusty. I also own the idea. It is miiiiiiiiiiiine! And Scythe is DeathScythe119's character. Technically speaking anyway, at the moment. Revised due to a tiny goof-up DeathScythe119 pointed out. Bon apatite!

* * *

Shadows of them

Love in all its forms

Ace loved to sit on the balcony of the council hub, looking idly around the peaceful planet. Her twin brother Cody tended to leave her to herself, but today their mother had insisted they wait for a "special surprise" together. It hadn't been long ago that the two sparklings had discovered that they had a father; their mother had always believed him to be dead by a war on the home planet. That had been the entire reason Ace's mother, grandmother, and uncle had left Cybertron; the war. Or at least that seemed to sum it up.

Ace glanced over at the sound of two sets of footsteps; one that she recognized; her mother's, and a heavier, distinctly adult heavy-built mech. Her mother had entirely white armor, and was sometimes called Prime by the rest of the council members. Her mother did have beautiful blue-green optics. Apparently Ace herself was modeled after her father, mostly with his original color pattern (white base, blue legs and arms(though her right leg was a lighter shade of blue) her left hand blue, right red, helmet blue, and various designs all over her chest-plates), and even a helmet shaped similarly to his, so she guessed her father had a red visor across his helmet too; though she doubted he had blue-purple fiber-optic "hair" sticking out the back of his helmet. Cody however was red and black all over (except for two yellow panels on his shoulders), with bright green optics. But like all sparklings; neither of them could transform.

"Hi Mommy! Who's your friend?"

"Mommy?" she heard the shadowed mech murmur in surprise turning to look at Ace's mother.

Ace and Cody looked at there mother when she gave an exasperated sigh, kneeling down and opening her arms, both sparklings jumping in her arms and hugging her tight, noticing her smile, "Sweeties… I-I want you to meet someone… someone very, very special… to me and will soon be pretty special to you two too…" she made optic contact with them, "Ace; Cody… I want you two to meet Red Alert… my… your… our…"

"Wait a micro Mommy. Is he who I think you're saying he is?" Cody asked; pushing slightly away, hope in his little optics.

She smiled, nodding; and hugging the two sparklings tight. The sparklings smiling in her loving grip; both looking happily at the medic-mech.

* * *

Lori answered the com-link given to her by the Autobots, a rather frightened Scattershot on the screen, "What's wrong?"

"Red Alert… We think he might have abandoned us!"

She blinked, "He's still missing? But the three days is going to be over in… like two or three hours! Where could he be?"

"I don't know; but I'm not sure why Optimus wants all you humans back at base soon… your dad included."

"We'll be there in just a little bit!"

"Thank you for coming so soon Fred. I think that if Red Alert does come back it maybe a good for him to have a good link of friends to remind him why he's stayed in the war so lon-"

The door opened, and Red Alert walked inside; right on time. He seemed… happy. He had an uncharacteristic bounce to his step. He seemed to be simply beaming positive energy. He was actually smiling, and broadly at that. His armor seemed spiff-and-shine, and it made him look like he was just glowing. He wasn't but it was clear that he was a new 'bot. "Sorry to keep you 'lot waiting!" even his voice sounded chipper and warm.

Hotshot's jaw simply dropped, "Who the **slag** are you; and what have you done with our medic!" he snapped, clearly serious.

"Calm down Hotshot; since when is it illegal for me to be in a good mood?"

"You haven't been in a good mood like this since-……" Hotshot fell silent; afraid that he had ruined Red Alert's good mood.

Oh how he ended up wishing he had. Red Alert gave him a genuine smile, "It's alright Hotshot; everything happens for some reason or another; it was just her time I suppose." He seemed almost in another world; mentally anyway.

Optimus gave him a strange look. Since the incident, Red Alert had never once talked about her that he knew of; and if he did he would've never spoken about it so cheerfully. All of the humans and Autobots exchanged uneasy glances, Leo Breaker decided to break the silence, "All right ya hippie; what've you done with our Red Alert?"

Optimus Prime frowned; something was _seriously_ wrong here. "Red Alert… that note you left…"

Red Alert held up his hand; he was still in a good mood, but a more serious tone took over for his response, "Sir; I have been asked not to disclose any of the information I gained with any Cybertronians; Autobot or Decepticon. I'm not even supposed to tell you where I was. All I can tell you; is that I'm probably going to "disappear" and learn more from them." He made deliberate optic contact, "And I learned a lot." His tone was even darker at that moment, before returning to his new self, "Though I truly hope that I will soon be able to share what I learned with you. All I can say is that peace between Autobots and Decepticons; I saw it everywhere I looked where I was, there's almost no differentia between Autobot and Decepticon decadence. The nicest 'bots in the Universe as far as I've seen were there."

"Hey! Are you badmouthing all the hard work that we Autobot's have done!" Hotshot took a personal hit to the Cybertronians universe wide. "Who do you think you are!"

"Calm down Hotshot! I'm sure Red Alert didn't mean anything by it! Right?" Scattershot was absolutely terrified a fight would break out.

Little did any of them know; Red Alert had no intention of fighting anyone, especially Hotshot. But the comment had hurt him, so he turned to him sadly, "Hotshot, I'm not badmouthing anyone. Don't you remember 'bots like Scythe? Elita-1? Orion Pax II? Destiny? Why would I abandon a cause that I lost close friends for; that I lost Destiny for? What in the universe would make me abandon what I lost so much personally for? And all the Autobots I've seen deactivated in this? And you of all bots should remember what else I lost when Destiny was vaporized. And yes Optimus…" He muttered, looking at the leader, "… I am using her name. Primus… For the longest time I had convinced myself that it was my fault she was vaped. If I had told her-… well… you can ask Hotshot if you want to know. But I'll say this, I will repair Autobot solders; but I will not fight in one more battle."

Fred frowned, "You hadn't wanted her to enter that fight in the first place. Had you known something was going to go wrong? Or was it just the face that you loved her so much?"

"Once again, ask Hotshot." Red Alert was still in a good mood, but not anywhere's near as happy as when he had entered. He headed for the door outside.

"Red Alert. Go to your quarters. We will discuss this later. You need I cool-down period." Optimus growled. All those names had hit home with him; Elita had been his bondmate, Orion was their younger sparkling, and Destiny…

"Yes _sir_, Optimus Prime _sir_!" he left to his quarters; leaving everyone dumbstruck. Red Alert was the last 'bot you'd expect to show tartness to Authority.

"I haven't seen him acting that strange since he and Destiny were hiding their relationship." Jetfire mumbled.

Everyone turned their attention to poor Hotshot; he hit his hand to his head, "Why did I have to open my big yap?"

"Hotshot?"

"Okay Optimus. Okay. Well… A few days before… I overheard those two talking… remember? She had had trouble processing her energon, and she never seemed to have enough in her system…"

"Get on with it; what was wrong with her?"

"… Red thought she was with spark, and was giving her a scan to be sure that night. And you guys know how those scans can take a couple of days…"

"… So… she didn't know for sure if she was or not…" it dawned on Optimus what had happened that day. And why Red Alert had been so adamant about her staying back at the base, despite how much Destiny had wanted to fight. He had known. But she didn't. And Red Alert hadn't wanted to tell her in front of everyone. "Oh… my… Primus… I just thought he was being protective of her… Primus…"

"You couldn't have known Optimus. Don't dwell on the pass." Vector Prime whispered to Optimus.

Fred looked to Optimus sadly, "We thought we only lost one life that day… looks like we were wrong… how could he have kept something like that a secret all this time?"

"I-I have no idea… But it must've eaten him up inside…" Jetfire mumbled.

Landmine finally spoke up; looking directly at Optimus, "She would've made a great creator, just like her creators."

"I'd have hoped so. But I guess we'll ever know."

Around the corner, Red Alert couldn't help but chuckled at how naive they were. They had no idea; all the better too. The less they knew the safer Ace and Cody would be. He couldn't help but grin at the thought of those two sparklings; nowadays far more 'bot's were being destroyed than created, so all sparklings that were created were precious.

He turned around and finally entered his room, leaning against the wall, feeling absolutely blissful. He knew that it wouldn't last forever; soon he would need to make a choice that could determine many Autobot lives; and something that in three days had become more important to him than the lives of the Autobots.

* * *

In the following weeks Red Alert slowly returned to normal, and eventually started to get slightly depressed; and he didn't seem to care that anyone knew it. Fred decided that a good chat with Alexis, Rad, and Carlos would do him good. So he dragged Red Alert, with the help of the kids, to their apartment on their day off of work. All three of them worked for the government.

"Hello? Oh! Fred; great to see you! Alexis! Come out here!"

"What is it Rad?" Alexis was clearly about six and a half months pregnant. And a six or seven year old boy with dusty-blond hair, and hazel eyes at her heels.

The humans greeted and chatted quickly before Fred pointed Red Alert out to them. Alexis thought a moment and brought Rusty over to him. "Mommy? Why are you taking me to a rescue car?"

She knelt down, with some difficulty, and held him close, "Rusty; sweetheart, this is an old friend of your dad, Uncle Carlos and I."

"But… it's a car… oh! Is it one of your friends from those stories?" She nodded, "Oh… Hi! My name's Rusty; what's yours?"

Red Alert's smile was hidden by his car mode, but it was clear in his voice, "Hello Rusty. I'm Red Alert."

"Cool… Can you transform like Mommy said?"

"Not with people around! Can't have the entire world knowing about us now can we?"

Alexis smiled weakly, "You're better with small children than the rest of us would've thought." She teased.

"Funny Alexis." He said sarcastically. They all conversed for a long time, Red Alert quickly coming to a realization that his human friends had already learned; family is the most important thing. Family first, war second. That was just how it was. And he had to stop being so impudent about it.

* * *

Red Alert glanced around the base; it was almost empty, and that was all the better. Midnight wasn't far off, so most of the 'bots were in recharge. He had grabbed a few things to take with him this time; and he couldn't wait to go back. He slunk down the hall, careful to avoid the security system he helped set up. But he couldn't avoid everything.

"You're leaving again." Someone said behind him; he spun around to see Optimus looking down at him sadly, "How long are you planning on being gone this time?"

"Sir… I don't want to harm any of my friends, but I have to go. It just has to be done. I have to do this."

Optimus frowned, "You didn't answer my question."

"Four days. If I'm gone longer, I'm staying there permanently."

The silence was excruciating. Then Optimus dug into his sub-space pocket, pulled out a small communicator and tossed it to the science officer and medic, "That's a universal rang communicator. If we absolutely need you before the four days is up-"

"I'd know. They have a… galaxy wide searching system. I'd be alerted if there were a problem you lot'd need me for." He said, frowning, moving to hand it back to Optimus.

But Optimus shook his head, "Keep it. I'd like a heads up if you're going to be staying there. And I hope that someday you will trust us enough to tell us about where you're going."

The guilt trip. Red Alert should've expected it. But he had to go. He pocketed the device and turned away. "I do trust you sir. But I'm not allowed tell you anything yet… or maybe ever." He left, more depressed than ever. But he couldn't wait to see them.

_Ha! DONE! And right on time too! (I wanted to get it done before noon.) and now I will need to, at least for a little while, shift my focus to another story before I get ahead of myself in this._


	8. Where art thou?

Oy,I've got a stomach ache, and don't feel good at all. I'd blame school food, but I don't eat that poison. Sorry it took so long to update, but I had to finish "Not who you think I am" before I showed you this chapter, anyway... Enjoy!

* * *

Shadows of them

Where art thou?

Once again, Red Alert returned in a great mood, even greater in fact than last time. But this time, there was a… uneasiness about him when he returned. He seemed conflicted about something, like he didn't know if returning was the right thing to do.

Fred decided to try to do something about it; call in someone with personal reminders. Billy. But he had to have help getting him to Autobot headquarters. Kobe and Bud.

"Alexis? Are they ready yet?"

"Yes Billy; I'll be over to drop them off as soon-"

"No. I'll be going down that way anyway Saturday. Can I pick them up then?"

"Yes. And I have the photos transferred to a data disk. Will you take those to show them as well?"

"Yes. Thank you Alexis."

* * *

Red Alert sat in his quarters staring at the ceiling, the past few weeks had been amazing, but he was conflicted; sure, she told him he had as long as he wanted to think about it, but every time he returned he felt more guilty about leaving them, especially now that, well, he wasn't going to think about it.

"I'm needed here." His voice echoed in his room, and he didn't believe himself for a moment. He sat up, looking onto the floor, "So much of my life was changed right here on earth… how can I just leave it behind? She said herself that to stay there is to stay for life… I can't let my friends down but… I can't ignore that she's alive… I searched for her for so long… and what about Ace and Cody? They need me even more than the Autobots do."

He fell back onto his recharge berth, he was quiet for a long time, then stood up, and moved over to a desk and grabbed a data-pad. He stared at the blank slate a moment, they began programming in a message: _Optimus Prime, fellow Autobots; I'm sorry, but I have to do this…_

* * *

Red Alert excited his quarters, ready to make a b-line for the exit. But he froze when he entered the control room. Billy was there, and he was putting a data-disk into the main computer, and some pictures popped up on the screen.

One was of himself with a pink femme, holding her around the waist, Hotshot beside him, Jetfire on her side, and Optimus behind them. Red Alert couldn't help but smile, he felt the memory flooding back to him, and it was like looking back on another lifetime.

Billy reached into his pockets, tossing two cell phones to his sons. "Here boys, Lazerbeak projects two and three, just for you."

The two little transformers turned into robot mode, each had small wings; Kobe's was blue, and Bud's was green. Bud grinned ear to ear, "Alright! I'm gonna call you Spelunk!"

Kobe smiled at his new friend, "How do you like Deep Water?" The little 'bot nodded and smiled, Red Alert felt a weight- was he doing the right thing?

"Red, do you remember this day?" Billy flipped the screen to a picture that he had taken when Red Alert and his, at the time, girlfriend Ariel Pax were humans.

Red Alert bit his lip and nodded, "What are you trying to accomplish?"

"Do you think Ariel would've wanted you to allow your friends to get hurt?"

"Do you think I'm going to fall for that? She would've wanted me to decide for myself, even she would never want me to follow blindly a cause she never even believed in- and I always questioned." There was a bitter tone in his voice, everyone in the room looked at him with wide eyes and optics, most with jaws dropped.

"What did you say Red?" Hotshot wanted to be sure his audios were working correctly.

Red Alert gave Hotshot a look he had never seen from him before, a look a pure hatred and distain, "I'm glad I'll never have to deal with you again." Red Alert hissed.

"Wha-what are you talking about?" Optimus looked as if the entire Autobot cause had been slapped in the face by one of the most trusted members.

"I'm leaving again, and this time I'm not coming back."

"What!" Kobe shouted.

"You heard me- I can't do this anymore, I'm not going to do this anymore, and you can't stop me." He headed for the door purposefully, all hesitation eradicated from his systems.

"You're abandoning us?" Bud whimpered; probably trying to get him to stay with pity.

"Yes, I no choice- I have to go. People there need me more than you lot ever will. But I do hope to see you there when the time is right. Goodbye."

"Did you drink some foul Energon or something?" Jetfire shouted, anger boiling in his systems, he stuck his face practically in Red Alert's "Destiny wouldn't want you to do such a thing! She loved you- and she loved the Autobot cause! She'd be disgraced!"

Red Alert lost his temper; he didn't storm off, or yell like would have been preferred. "Stop talking about her in past tense!"

He punched Jetfire right in the face, cracking his visor. Jetfire fell to his knees, holding his face and crying out, "Criky! What the hell? Ow… Red, why'd ya do that?" He groaned, meck fluid dripping down his face.

No one dared move; Red Alert wasn't a hostile being, and never having seen him attack a friend before not even Optimus knew what to do. Red Alert stormed away, a dead silence following his leave.

Hotshot finally spoke up, "Where's Red Alert? That couldn't have been him… it just couldn't have…"

After another short silence, Kobe moved over to help Jetfire with his optics, everyone was upset, but they had no idea what was going on, and doubted they ever would.

* * *

Red Alert entered the old base; she was waiting for him, her white armor gleaming and blue-green optics sparkling. She put her hands on her hips, a smile peeking on her lips, "How'd it go?" He held up his hand, cut and dripping meck fluid from the collision with Jetfire's visor, "Oh my Primus…" She grabbed his hand and examined it, pulling the glass out.

He looked to the floor, "Jetfire got in my face about leaving for good, and I lost my temper… I feel awful about it…"

"Reddy, don't beat yourself up, someday he'll understand, just wait and see. You ready to go?"

He nodded, "Yes I am, and I want you to take it easy okay? I'm also your medic again, so listen to me. And don't stress yourself or-"

She put a finger over his lip-components, shaking her head, "Same old Reddy huh?"

He nodded and nuzzled her head-crest, "And you're the same old Ariel Pax."

She smiled, "You're the only one who can get away with calling me that now, but you do understand it's Destiny Prime now, right?

"Of course I do love, now we should go Destiny."

* * *

Done, did you enjoy? RnR please, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. 


	9. Turbine

Ha! Came up with this chapter fast, didn't I? Well, I had the time, 'cause I was sick. I head this annoying voice saying "Tell them about Jetfire's bondmate" over-and-over again, so I finally wrote it and my friend (I won't name names) shut the hell up. All well, enjoy people!

* * *

Shadows of Them

Turbine

It had been over a month since they had seen Red Alert, and Jetfire was glad. He seemed to have grown hateful toward Red Alert, even Fred and Billy pondered his strange behavior. Jetfire growled rather suddenly, "I hope that slagger's miserable." He snapped without outside provocation.

Kobe looked up in surprise, wondering if he should say something, but Billy put his hand on his shoulder and shook his head, "His ego's been toppled son, let him regain his confidence first."

"Optimus, I found the exact point Re- he disappeared from." Scattershot whispered; Red Alert's name was an unspoken word in the bases dictionary, it was unspoken. "Should someone check on him? The data says he was with another 'bot at the time of his disappearance…"

"Why should we bother?" Jetfire grumbled, shaking his head, "He doesn't care about us anymore. He's become as selfish as a Decepticon."

"Don't say that!" Lori shouted, a tear falling down her face, "Red Alert had to have had a good reason for leaving! He had to!"

"Oh?" Hotshot barked, "What would that be? Huh? You don't understand- we were supposed to be a team, he could've betrayed us for all we know!"

Zipline flew up to meet Hotshot in the optics, "Don't talk to Lori-ori like that! Ya meany-bieny-bofiny!"

Optimus moved over to Scattershot's side, "He disappeared through the first base didn't he?" Scattershot nodded, "Can you access the bases security system and get footage?"

Jetfire looked to Optimus Prime, "Do you think that it works after all these years?"

"It should."

Scattershot typed away for a good while before smiling, "I've got the most recent footage from the first base."

"Put it on-screen." Optimus ordered.

A femme appeared on the screen, she had snow-white armor and blue-green optics. She sat down as if she was waiting for something. Jetfire stared at the visual, suddenly whispering, "She looks almost like Destiny… But that's impossible. We were there when she was destroyed…"

Landmine looked to Optimus, "Do you think someone who looked like her tricked him inta thinkin' she was him?"

Optimus looked at the femme on the screen; then shook his head, "Red Alert wouldn't have been fooled even if the femme had Destiny's bonding bracelet. He always did say he felt that she wasn't really gone…"

Jetfire looked at Optimus in surprise, "You can't be serious! She would've wanted him to stay with us! Hec, she'd have wanted to join us again!"

Hotshot's optics widened, "Unless their sparkling survived like she did! Then neither of them would dare stay involved in the war!" He looked at Optimus, "If that's the case… should we try to contact him?"

Optimus looked to the floor a moment, "Fast-foreword the tape. Find how they left."

Scattershot sped the tape up, then said, "It looks like they went through the old warp-gate, but I can't tell where…"

Optimus shook his head, "There will be no need, once at the old base I can look through the data banks and find out where they went for myself."

Jetfire shook his head, "You aren't going alone. I'm going too."

"Me too." Override added.

"I'm coming too Optimus." Landmine answered.

"You aren't going anywhere without me!" Hotshot chirped.

"Or me." Scattershot quipped.

"Or us!" Jolt shouted, the mini-cons chattering in agreement.

"Or us." The kids shouted in unison.

"I'm going along aswell." Vector Prime added.

Billy looked to his boys, about to protest then shook his head, "I'd tell you boys not to, but then I'd be a hypocrite. Be careful boys. You too Lori."

"Don't worry about a thing!" Spelunk smiled, "We won't be jumping off any cliffs- will we?" He looked to Bud.

"Nah." Bud smirked.

* * *

With Scattershot's help, it only took a few minutes to program the warp-gate to take them to the last location it registered. It looked like a deserted island through the gate. Once through the gate, they searched the island. They searched for more than an hour before Jetfire called everyone over to the area he was searching.

"Watch." He said when everyone had arrived. He waved his hand over a certain spot and it looked like his hand disappeared.

"Whoa…" Bud looked like he was practically going to slobber all over the strange occurrence.

"It must be a warp gate…" Vector murmured.

"Well let's go!" Bud cheered, only to be picked up by Optimus and stopped, "Hey! What gives?"

"If it's dangerous we should go first." Optimus explained.

"Where are we anyway?" Lori piped up.

"The dead center of the Bermuda Triangle." Scattershot answered.

Lori bit her lip, "Did ya have to say "dead center" Scattershot?"

* * *

The portal led to a cave of sorts, the over-hang of a cliff above them. "I hope that thing doesn't fall on us." Kobe murmured, pointing skywards.

"No worries mate, we should be fine." Jetfire reassured.

"Ay there, who be ye?" a gruff voice growled. They spun around to see a 'bot with dark, shadowy-colored armor, he was barely visible in the rough yet lush terrain. He had a strange-looking blaster pointed at them, his optics narrowed, "I asked ye a question. Are ye friend or foe to Tolerace?"

"We are Autobots, we mean you no harm, we were just trying to find a friend of ours."

He shook his head, "Ay, Lady Prime warned us ye'd follow from Earth, I suppose those humans are proof enough that ye're who ye says ye are." He turned around, "Ye best follow close to me; ye don't want to get lost in these wood." They followed close behind the mech, wondering what to do. The old mech looked behind him to look at them, "By the way, m' name's First Line. I'm Tolerace's first defense against the monsters in this wood.

"Monsters?" Bud asked timidly.

"Ay little one, monsters. I'll tell ye all about it when we get to m' post."

It was a short walk to what looked like some type of observation tower, a snoozing, clearly over-energized mech guarding the door. He jolted awake at the sound of their footsteps, "Backup!" he drawled, "Backup on duty! Don't even think about- oh… hey First Line."

First Line rolled his optics, pointing to the people behind him, "We got some newcomers Lad, where's the Lass?"

"You mean Silent Suzie?" Backup had clearly had too many energons, his voice drawled, but it still held a tinge of mockery. "She wents up in the tower floor."

First Line shook his head, "Don't mind Backup, he's been on this job too long. Come in, come in, I'll get ye lot some nice hot energon."

Once inside, he took them into an elevator shaft; it took them up to the top of the tower. He told everyone to sit down and take it easy until he got back from getting them energon. When he returned, he gave each 'bot a energon, even small cups for the Minicons, and coffee for the humans.

"Wow!" Lori smiled drinking it down, "This is really good- have you had humans on your planet before?"

He nodded, "Ay little Lass, we've got to be prepared for newcomers of every species. But we haven't had any new human around in seven years."

"First Line- if you don't mind me asking, who was the Silent Suzie, the one that Backup mentioned?" Optimus asked.

"Ay…" He shook his head, sighed, but then finally answered, "Ta be honest, we don't really know. Ye see; that portal ye came through is the only way to get to this planet safely. Most outsiders arrive because Primus saved 'um and sent 'um here. More often than not, they come to us with minor injuries or memory lapses, some don't even remember who they are unless they see a familiar face- but the Lass was different…. when she arrived, she couldn't remember or speak- we checked her vocal', but there ain nothin' physically wrong with her. An' since she's arrived she's been absolutely on edge, the slightest sound shakes her up good."

"Poor femme." Vector murmured, shaking his head. "But why can't she speak?"

"She always seems to be looking for somethin'; we think it might've been the stress of warping through the galaxy. Ay, but we do know that she remembers why Primus had to save her. From what we can tell, she was an' explorer, an' a scientist. We suppose she was studyin' a meteor in a rock-belt, and while she was distracted got boxed in by meteors. Do any of ye know of a femme scientist?" No one said a word, but they all shook their heads, except for Jetfire; he looked deep in thought, and even in his own little world.

A crash was heard from one of the rooms, like glass breaking. Jetfire jolted up and shouted, "Criky! What was that?"

First Line shook his head, "Don't worry about it Lass, come in here, we have some newcomers." Override noticed that he always called them newcomers, not visitors, arousing her suspicion.

The door opened and a frail-looking yet shapely femme entered, her paint was dull silver with faded red stripes, her optics dull blue, she clearly transformed into a jet, but she lacked Jetfire's confidence. _If she smiled she might look pretty_ Lori thought, looking at her hopefully.

Jetfire jumped to his feet, optics glowing under his visor, "Turbine!" He shouted, making the femme fall in fear.

"Ye know her? It's nice to know her name."

"Turbine, are you alright?" Jetfire offered her his hand, but she scooted away from him, slamming her back to a wall. Even with a facemask and visor, it was obvious his feelings were hurt. "What's wrong Turbine? Don't ya recognize me? It's Jetfire! I know I've had a few upgrades since ya last saw me, but I haven't changed that much!" he again offered her his hand, and she looked into his visor for the first time.

She shook her head and words escaped her lip components, "I don't know you."

"Ay Lass! Ye spoke! Remember him or not he triggered somethin' in ye." She stood up, keeping away from Jetfire. "Ay, so ye name is Turbine then?"

She shook her head, "How do we know he's being truthful?" Her voice was quivering, as if she was unsure of the voice that came out; but it was a sweet, kind, yet forceful voice.

"Why would I lie?" Jetfire shouted, "And how can ya not remember me!" She again seemed to shrink in fear of him. "Don't be scared of me!"

"Oh, well then how do I know you?"

"You're my bon-" he stopped as if he thought better of what he had been about to say, then calmly whispered, "You're me best mate." He voiced dropped even lower, "Don't ya remember how we met? Remember? The fourth-term class at Cybertron Academy, on the first day of class in the middle of class I got in a fist-fight with another mech, ya pulled me off of him and separated us- don't ya remember?" She shook her head, "I remember your first words to me- "Knock it off ya moron." Why don't you remember me?"

She shook her head, "I'm sorry, I just don't remember you. The farthest back I can remember is when I was out on that asteroid just before I was transported here. I'm sorry, I wish I could remember something, anything about my life from before Tolerace, really I do, but I just don't." Jetfire looked as if she had slapped him in the face, he was clearly hurt.

"Ay Lass, maybe a trip through town will clear ye head, and ye should take these 'bots to see some of the Ladies and Lords, get them knowing some of the important 'bots around, after all, they'll need to."

She nodded, "Thanks First Line. And I will- where should I take them first?"

"Ay… How about the Coleville tower? The one Lady 1 watches."

"Okay!" She chirped, clearly feeling better and more confident with her new voice. "Follow me!" she headed for the elevator, waiting at the door for them.

They slowly walked after her, Jetfire moving the slowest, falling a bit behind. First Line put a hand on his shoulder, "Ay Lad, don't worry, eventually almost all arrivals remember who they were before- I'm sure you're bondmate is no different."

Jetfire looked at him in surprise, "How did you-"

"I'm older than you, I've seen a lot of 'bot that're still in love with someone who doesn't remember them. Now go on with them." Being shooed, Jetfire ran off to join the others, hoping for the best. First Line smiled and returned to a window, waiting for them to emerge and go off, and keeping a lookout on the forest, he hadn't explained to them the dangers that lay in the forest, but Turbine knew them, and he knew they would be fine.

* * *

All done, wha'd ya think? RnR, I'll try to hurry with the next chapter.


	10. Tolerace

My readers all seem to be lazy- you people seem to refuse to review, so I have no feedback, it is very annoying! Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Shadows of Them

-Tolerace-

"Coleville Tower is just a few clicks North-East, each tower has five 'bots assigned to it, each one is required to have at least two on-duty bots at a time. Oh and-"

Beneath his mask, Jetfire couldn't help but smile at Turbine's banter. She was talking like if she stopped for even a moment she would lose her voice again. Jetfire wasn't complaining however, it was good to hear her voice as far as he was concerned. And she loved to talk, he knew her better than she knew herself now, and he kind of liked that fact.

"Calm down, you aren't gonna lose your voice if you stop talking for a tiny bit." Lori shouted, grinning.

"Now-now, she doesn't want to talk because she's afraid she'll lose her voice again, she wants to talk because she loves to talk." Jetfire murmured, barely holding back a laugh.

Turbine turned around, sticking her face in his, "Are you calling me a chatterbox you pompous creep!" Under his mask he smiled wide, her optics narrowed, "Stop grinning you jerk!" She shouted.

Hotshot gave her a sideways look, confused, "How can you tell he's grinning?"

"I don't know; I just know he is!" She snapped, making Jetfire smile more, _Only I can make her this mad, just by being me._ He thought. She turned her attention back to him, optics wide, and mouth slightly open. "What did you just say?"

"He didn't say anything…" Hotshot murmured, his confusion growing.

Landmine smiled, "You'll understand what just happened when you're older Hotshot."

"I'd like to know what just happened!" Turbine snapped, stomping her foot in the ground.

"Don't throw a tantrum Turbine." Jetfire teased, hoping she was about to begin to remember him, he placed his hand on her shoulder tenderly.

She glared at him, then in one swift move punched him in the face, making him step away, "Don't touch me you perv!"

"Nice hook." He whispered, rubbing the spot where she had hit.

She un-balled her fist, and after a moment whispered, "Thanks, did I hurt you?"

Compassion- the first bit towards him that they had seen from her. Just that little bit sent Jetfire's spark up to the clouds. "I'm fine. Thanks Turbine."

Override moved towards the group, she had fallen behind the group, and was wondering why they had stopped. She was tackled to the ground by a strange, cat-like metallic creature, it bit into her arm. She cried out, making everyone turn around, "Override!" Hotshot shouted, running over, pulling his weapon from sub-space.

"Don't use that!" Turbine cried, pulling a strange gun out of sub-space and shooting energon-bars at the thing attacking her, it knocked it over off the path, and Turbine grabbed Override's arm. "Are you alright?"

"I think it cut a cable in my arm…" She whispered, holding her arm.

Turbine moved her hand aside and examined the injury, she shook her head, "Ace can fix this in a few clicks, at most, she should be at the tower, come on!" she pulled her to her feet, Hotshot took her from Turbine, "I can steady her better than you, you're a little too frail to carry her all that way."

Turbine nodded, and moved away, leading the way toward the tower. No one was waiting at this tower's door, but Turbine knew the codes, she brought them into the main room and she shouted, "Ace! Ace! Ace where are you? We have an injured newcomer! Ace?"

A femme with pale green armor ran in looking baffled to see her, but then she shook her head, "Good to see you finally have your voice back- I can patch her arm up in a few minutes."

Turbine shook her head, "Freia, where's Ace?"

"With her creators and brother- at the in-town med-center." She moved over and looked at Override's arm, then pulled a medical tool out of sub-space and began working.

"Uh… why?"

"The sparkling's coming."

Turbine raised an optic-ridge, "This early?"

Freia nodded, "That's why Ace and the others ran off and broke regulations to leave me here alone."

"Wow, Lady 1 broke regulations?"

"Who's Lady 1?" Optimus piped up, finally speaking.

Freia shook her head, "Lady Prime and Lord 2's primary creator, they each have important posts along the boarder. Lady Prime is actually going on trial soon for disobeying the council's direct orders and taking her bondmate out of the outside universe."

They looked around at each other, Jetfire lowered his face and whispered, "Red Alert… and that femme then must've been Ariel Pax…"

Turbine felt a boiling inside of her- she didn't like the way he said that femme's name, but she didn't know why she cared. She shook her head and turned to look at Freia, "How long do you think it will take to repair her Freia?"

"Not long. This is a pretty minor injury; but she probably shouldn't transform or leave the tower- incase another creature is running around close to the tower." Freia replied.

"What was that thing anyway?" Jetfire asked.

Turbine wagged a finger in front of his face, "Just because they can't speak in most languages and can't transform, that doesn't give you the right to call them things!"

"Fine! But what are they?"

Turbine paced around the room for a moment, thinking. Then she stroked her helmet with her hand, "Well, when this society was first formed, Autobot-Decepticon relationships were encouraged to try to make a race that had the best qualities of both Cybertronian types. At first the results were all good, then… well… the opposite of the intentions of the council-this societies governing body. Another effect was that the opposite Cybertronians were unable to transform or do many things normal 'bots take for granted. They started causing chaos around the planet, so the counsel banished them to the Forest Zone of the planet, setting up posts around their territory to keep both the Forbidden Zone and the City Zone, even a few places where the Ocean Zone meets it."

Jetfire looked sadly at her; he couldn't understand what this planet was about. These Zones were making his head spin, but all he wanted was Turbine. "What else?"

She looked confused, "What do you mean by "what else?"?"

"Well… What else can you tell us about this planet?"

"Are you serious?" she laughed, Jetfire had missed her laugh, and he decided right then that if he couldn't make her remember him, he'd make her fall in love with him all over again. When she stopped laughing she said, "Well, we're ruled by an elected council of seven- every thirteen of this planet's years we elect a new council."

Optimus Prime finally stepped foreword, "May we speak to this council?"

She cocked her head sideways, "You'll have to- all newcomers have to be deemed either safe to be released into our society, can have therapy to be released, or if we have to turn them over to whatever war-lord is currently in control of the Forest Zone."

"What!" Lori shouted, "You mean we'll never go home?"

Turbine shrugged, "Physically speaking- only servants of Primus can leave, or take people from this planet- you might be able to convince the council to let you…"

"And if we can't convince the council?" Jetfire inquired.

Turbine smiled, "Well, if you've been good all your life, you'll be releced into this planet's society, if not…" Her optics dimmed, and her voiced lowered, "You'll be sent to the Forest Zone, and they'll do what they see fit to you."

Optimus was silent a moment then whispered, "When may we speak to this council?"

"I could take you to them." Turbine jumped up, Jetfire got the feeling she wanted to talk to the people who had helped her along the way. "I know most of the 'bots in the main city, especially the others like me." She ran to the elevator, "You guys coming?" She called.

Freia pointed to Override, "She should stay here; I'll keep an eye on her until you can bring them back here or if she is well enough she can be brought down."

"Thanks Freia!" Turbine ran into the elevator, "Hurry up!"

* * *

"Welcome to Veda Quadrant, AKA downtown Tolerace!" Turbine chirped, waving her arm around to show the Autobots the city, however it was more rural than the cities on Cybertron. Their buildings were, for the most part, only two transformer-sized stories, with a few exceptions. There were many, many 'bots walking the streets without fear, even a few sparklings running around, and that was the most surprising thing to Optimus Prime's crew.

"There are sparklings here?" Jetfire almost shouted, making the group receive snickers and optic-rolls.

Turbine nodded, then looked to him confused, "Cybertron doesn't have sparklings or something?"

Optimus somewhat blinked, "Well yes but… Cybertron has been at war a long time so for their safety sparklings-"

"…Go through forced up-grades. Lord 2 told me about that, he said it's something that just… happens on warring planets." A fiery, gold-colored mech walked over to them, he seemed cocky, but fun-loving.

"Hey Silent- heard ya got you're voice back." He quipped, grabbing her like a sparkling and spinning her around in the air. Jetfire resisted the urge to punch the mech.

"Yep Blaze! Apparently my name's Turbine, isn't it great!" She pointed to them, "These are-"

"The Cybertronian Autobots and their human friends, yeah, I know, Eavesdrop told us." He turned to The crew, "Hello ladies and gentlemen. I'm Blaze Prime- Primus' servant of fire. Hey Vec." He waved to Vector Prime.

"Vector Prime- you know him?" Jolt asked.

Vector shook his head, "No…"

Blaze Prime waved his hand, "Last time I saw you he was still training us elemental Prime's, he has all four of us protecting Tolerace." He turned to Optimus, "And you must be Optimus Prime- Lady 1 has told me so much about you!" He held out his hand, and then shook Optimus' hand as if he didn't have a bewildered look on his face.

"Lady 1?" Optimus finally managed.

"Yes sir, she's on the post-duty more often than not. She's with your creation's sparklings at the moment- can't have them running around while an under-developed is synchronizing with its body huh?" Blaze leaned over in mid-air; it almost looked as if against a wall.

Optimus gaped, "_My_ creation's _sparklings_?"

* * *

Done. Did you lazy people enjoy it? Huh! Sorry, bad mood, anyway, RnR

(Sid, if you review and try to do another PS that looks like you signed it with my penname, you're dead. Understand?)


	11. Old Friends, New Friends

Okay, so its starting to get in the 90's up in NY, and yet my Dad says its too early to open & clean the pool, or put the AC in the living room. But it's going to be even hotter tomarow... And worse, I have to go to the infurno called Highschool for 2&1/2 more weeks. Bleh, I can't even think straight... It might be about time to find more shorts...

Anyway, Alot of characters and concepts introduced this chapter, I own all new non- Hasbro owned characters minus DeathScythe & Chaser

Enjoy!

* * *

Shadows of Them

Old Friends, New Friends

"Optimus, what's a sparkling?" Bud asked, looking up to the Autobot leader.

Optimus Prime looked away, so Blaze Prime butted in, "You haven't explained to these poor kids about creations yet? That's sad. Mind if I explain it to them?" He moved toward the kids.

But Turbine shook her head, "It'll take you all of five years to explain," She turned to the kids, "I assume you understand what a creation is," She didn't wait for them to answer, "Well, a sparkling is what a young creation is, they're called a creation when they reach maturity and become able to transform." Then she shrugged, "Or at least that's how it works here, is that how it is on Cybertron?"

Optimus looked taken aback, "Well… yes…"

Lori gave them a skeptical look, "So you build your children?"

Turbine again took the chance to talk, "Sometimes, but on this planet they're spark is created inside a femme's body, and just their body is built by it's two creators- a data transfer between the creators is how the spark is created in the first place- understand?"

Lori Kobe and Bud nodded, and then Jetfire asked, "How do you know Turbine anyway?" He snapped to Blaze, changing the subject completely.

Blaze's gold visor faded as if blinking, "I was the one that found her, brought her to the council for judgment."

"We must've been really good friends for you to be such a jerk to my friend." Turbine quipped, "So where's Lady 1 anyway?"

Blaze pointed to a road leading to the left, "She took Ace and Cody to the Spark-Park, 'said they wanted to hang out with their friends and stuff." He looked over at a tower-top that was visible despite being clearly a long way away. He headed off down a road leading toward the tower, "Gotta go! Tell Lady Prime I said congratulations! It's almost my shift!"

Turbine waved at him, "See you later!" She motioned to the road that lead to what she had called the "Spark-Park". "Come on, if Lady 1 knows you than she has to know something!"

* * *

After a walk that seemed to take forever, they made a sharp turn and walked into a place that looked similar to a children's park on earth. Sparklings ran around the park, chasing each other and playing games that made no sense. Adult 'bots were sitting or standing near the edge of the park, most were out of view, but there was one that made even Hotshot gape, he shouted, "DeathScythe! Is that you?"

The purple femme looked to them and jumped up from her seat, "You!" She shouted, glaring at them, she looked into the crowd of sparklings and shouted, "Chaser, Chaser get over here!" Several adults looked at her with curious glances.

A pink hand rested on her shoulder, "Calm down 'Scythe, they wouldn't be walking around if the council thought they were dangerous, besides, we know them too well for that."

The femme's armor was almost completely pink, sparkling blue optics resonating from her silver face that was surrounded by a rather large head-crest. Optimus looked at her shock-struck, "Elita?" He gaped.

The femme gave a soft smile, "Yes Optimus, it's good to see you again." Her voice was soft and smooth, as if a relief had just come to her, like all her fears had been pushed aside.

"Blimy! We all thought you two were-" Jetfire began.

"Believe me, we aren't the only ones." Elita smiled, "I see you've found Turbine."

Turbine gave her a confused look, "You mean you knew my name was Turbine- knew who I was and didn't even tell me my name? At least Jetfire told me who I am!"

Elita waved her hand kindly, "You know the council's rules. They understand that you, honestly, cannot adjust properly if you're told who you are- besides, that also prevents fraudulence concerning who they are."

"Get down from there!" A mech shouted who Optimus clearly recognized, Optimus turned to the voice, as did Elita, a smile upon her face.

The mech had similar coloring to Optimus, only more red, and he was clearly younger and no where's near as heavily armored. He was yelling at a sparkling that was climbing on top of the highest toy, a place meant to be a roof, where the little white and blue femme clearly shouldn't have been.

"Elita, is-is that Orion?" Optimus whispered.

She smiled, "Um-hum. That is our Orion Pax 2. I did say that a lot of us that you think are dead are right here." She looked to the ground a bit, "Technically speaking anyway."

Optimus looked at her, about to ask what she meant when Orion shouted again, "Ace! Get away from there!"

He was pointing at the sparkling again, then to the ground, however she didn't seem to be listening. A red black and yellow sparkling at Orion's feet knocked on his leg, "'Rion?" he asked, "The 'bots I saw in my bubbles are talking to-"

Before the little one could finish, Orion spun around and ended up looking Optimus dead in the optic. He gaped a minute before a tinge of a smile crept upon his face, and then he looked back up to the little femme, "Ace! Ace come here quick!"

"Not yet! I'm gonna slide down the wall!" She chirped joyfully.

"Ace! Ace there's someone you and Cody have to meet!"

She cocked her head sideways then shrugged, "Fine, I'm coming." She moved to the edge of the toy and grabbed one of the support-beams; sliding down it.

Optimus looked at Elita in confusion, she chuckled and said, "She has a lot of you in her Optimus."

He gave her a shocked look, "What do you mean?"

Landmine scratched his head, "That doesn't make any sense."

Elita shook her head, "Notice Ace's coloration- she and Cody are twins by the way, but what's important is their creators."

Hotshot mumbled, "Her colors look like Red Alert's old colors."

Elita nodded and smiled, "Yes, and who is Red Alert's bondmate?"

"Hold on, that would mean the femme we saw on the tape that took Red Alert, am I to understand that she's-"

Elita nodded again, "Destiny's alive and well too Jetfire, she figures the only reason she was sent here was because Ace and Cody's sparks would have gone out too."

"So that's what Red Alert meant…" Scattershot whispered, "When he said that other people needed him more than us, he meant his sparklings."

Elita added on to Scattershot's statement, "All three of them."

"Three?" Optimus asked.

"What's going on here?" a gruff voice behind them asked. A platinum-blue mech with heavy back armor, red stripes, a large Autobot insignia on his chest, blue optics, and a white face walked toward DeathScythe looking at the group carefully. A small smile broke his serious face, "So you guys finally bit the dust too huh?"

Jetfire's optics widened beneath his visor, "Wait just a moment, Blurr? Is that you?"

Blurr rolled his optics, "No, it's Santa Clause, of course it's me."

DeathScythe tapped Blurr on the shoulder, then pointed to the park, "Make yourself useful and go get Chaser."

Blurr groaned, "Why do I have to get him? He runs."

DeathScythe got in his face, "And who's fault is that?" she snapped, "Who is it who taught him speed was a good thing?"

He groaned again, "Not this again…"

"Huh?" Hotshot was confused by the two's behaviors.

As Blurr walked into the crowd of sparklings, looking for Chaser, DeathScythe returned Hotshot's stare, "What? Oh… right… you guys wouldn't know would you?" She smiled sweetly, "We've bonded since he arrived, then we had Chaser."

Hotshot gaped, "Whoa-whoa-whoa, you two are bonded? _And_ have a sparkling?"

"That's what I said."

"A lot has changed for those of us that live here now." Elita murmured.

"'Rion! Put me down!" Orion was carrying Ace over his shoulder, and she was fussing and squirming, "'Rion! I can walk!"

Cody was trailing them, smirking, "I told you not to climb that thing!"

Blurr was walking behind them, a small red and platinum sparkling tailing him. When the sparkling saw DeathScythe the little sparkling grinned and ran to her, "Mom! Who're they?"

She scooped him up in her arms, "Some friends."

Ace looked at Elita, "Se-quina shi butorllo?"

Elita answered in the strange language, "Heviu Fei-sha."

Cody answered along with Ace, "Fei-sha!" Ace looked to Optimus for a moment then said, 'Riutunima, Se-quina. Wo nu."

"Wo un." Elita answered.

"What in the name of Primus?" Optimus asked.

Ace looked at him carefully before saying to him, "Grandpa?"

He nodded carefully, Cody cocked his head sideways, "You looked different when I first saw you in my bubbles."

"Bubbles?" Optimus inquired.

"Uh-huh, Eavesdrop used bubbles to see what goes on in far away places." Ace answered.

"Don't call me Eavesdrop!" Cody snapped, jumping on his sister.

The two started fighting and everyone around was dumbstruck, Orion tried to pry them apart, he looked to Elita, "Um… help?"

"Don't worry about it- you and your sister fought almost as much as these two when you were little. Best thing to do is just distract them." She turned to the fighting youngsters, "Arial Alert, Code Red, do you two want to see how your mommy's doing?"

They stopped and got to their feet, Ace nodded, "Uh-huh, I can't wait to see our baby sister!"

"Brother!" Cody argued. They badgered back and fourth, Elita signaled the group to follow her, and even though they were arguing.

Elita took them to the Guardian residence, introducing them to a few of the off-duty guardians. The first ones they saw were also servants of Primus. Aquarius Prime, she's the bright-blue smooth-talking servant of water, Cyclone Prime, he's the grey high-flying servant of wind, and finally Gaea Prime, the sweet green quiet and kind femme servant of ground.

After the 'bots began to mingle, Orion was sent to get Override from the station. Elita pulled Optimus to the side, in a hallway where there was no one, Optimus immediately hugged her as if he was going to lose her if he let go, and he even gave her a brief kiss.

Elita shook her head, "Optimus, I need to have a serious conversation with you, Optimus… Did you talk to Magnus when you heard I was destroyed?"

"He was the one who broke the news to me…"

Elita shook her head, "He didn't tell you did he? Optimus, I gave up on the war, Ultra Magnus was the one who convinced me to participate in what was supposed to be my last battle. Optimus, I've changed. But my feeling for you haven't, and never will." She put a hand on his mask, "You have to understand that, I've made a life on this planet, the kind of life that we always said we'd have when the war was over."

"Elita… What are you saying?"

"I'm saying… I'm saying I don't want you to leave… I want you to stay on Tolerace… with me… for the rest of our lives."

* * *

Well? What did you lot think? Let me know soon, though for the next couple weeks (Exams & lots of Homework) I might be too buisy to write.

Thanks for reading!


	12. Pax

I give up, the more chapter views I get, the fewer reviews, so all well. I've got testing for the next few weeks, so I won't be doing much on sites. But, whatever, enjoy!

* * *

Shadows of Them

Pax

Destiny Prime's head was swimming, her mind struggling to remember where she was. She didn't dare turn on her optics until she knew where she was, she felt a hand on her face, a familiar one, "Reddy?" she whispered, flickering her optics on, Red Alert's arms around her.

"Good to see you're back online. How do you feel?" he whispered.

"Like I was crushed my Megatron." Everything came back to her all at once, and she started looking around frantically, "Where is it? Is it okay? Reddy?"

"Sh-sh… calm down Arie, it's okay, it should come online soon love." He gently stroked her cheek, nuzzling her to calm her, he then smiled and whispered, "It's a she by the way, what do you want to name her?"

Destiny moved over so she could see the tiny, Minicons-sized, mostly black, purple and red sparkling with a yellow visor and blue fiber-optics 'hairs' forming a short hairline with two long almost braded bunches down it's back, she had a small blue cross on her forehead. The little one's optics glowed through the visor, she was almost ready to come online. Destiny reached out and touched the little one's grey face, then picked it up and held her close.

Red Alert couldn't help but smile at the sight, hugging Destiny and the sparkling close, "Well love?"

She looked to the ground, she then leaned her head back to look at Red Alert, "I want you to name her."

He looked at the little one, brushing her face and whispering, "She looks so peaceful… hum… Pax. What do you think of Pax, Love?"

She leaned back and kissed him briefly, cradling the sparkling, "It's a good name, if not very creative." She teased. She again looked back at the sparkling, it was beginning to struggle, trying to come online, "Come online Pax, cone online baby…"

* * *

Optimus Prime gaped at his bondmate, the femme who had been his bondmate for millions of years; she was actually asking him to abandon the Autobots, to abandon his friends, comrades and the cause. "Elita, you can't be serious."

Elita-1 looked up into his optics and shook her head, "I am Paxie; I'm dead serious. The council probably won't let you leave anyway… if you stay by your own free will-"

"Elita… You know I can't do that. Elita- are you even aware of the Black Hole threatening to destroy everything? I have to stop it, and so does my team."

She shook her head, "Family always takes a backseat to war doesn't it?"

He looked at her, baffled, "Elita, that isn't-"

"I know you don't think so, but that's always been your attitude- that the cause needed you more than we did. We know you love us anyway… things would just be easier for you and your team if you told he council that you wanted to be here on your own…"

He shook his head, "Elita, if I walk away from the Black Hole, then it would come back to haunt all of us- I can't let that happen. I have to stop it and Megatron so that you don't have to worry."

She was silent a moment, hanging her head, clutching his arm, "Even if it means us losing you?"

Optimus looked at her, and finally whispered, "That won't happen."

"But it already did. I'm not stupid, I felt it every time your spark almost went out, or when it did. I love you- I can't stand to lose you again, not one more time."

He rested his head-crest on hers, and choked out, "I love you too, and I promise that won't happen."

"Don't make promises you can't keep Paxie."

Aquarius Prime's voice reached them through the back hall, "Elita! Elita! They're back! Come quick!"

Elita grabbed his hand and pulled him along after her, "Hurry up- don't you want to see Destiny and Red Alert?"

When they entered the main room, Arial Alert(Ace) and Code Red(Cody) were waiting by the door, still arguing whether or not the new sparkling would be a femme or mech (with Chaser referring). Vector Prime was speaking with the other servants of Primus, whilst Scattershot, Landmine, Hotshot, Jetfire, Turbine, Orion Pax 2, Override, Blurr, and DeathScythe were talking quietly off on their own, while the kids and Minicons were talking to a few Minicons that lived on the planet.

The entrance opened, and the first person they saw was Red Alert, he was steadying Destiny Prime, and she was carrying a tiny Cybertronian. She looked at Optimus and smiled, "Hi Demority."

"Mommy! Daddy!" Cody and Ace shouted, running to them, "Whatisitwhatisitwhatisitwhatisitwhatisitwhatisitwhatisit?" The twins shouted.

"Sh! She just fell asleep! She needs to recharge more than you did when you were her age."

"So… it's a she?" Ace asked smugly.

Red Alert chuckled, "Don't get cocky sweetheart."

Hotshot moved toward them, "Red- what in the name of Primus is wrong with you? Why didn't you tell us!"

Destiny handed the sparkling to Red Alert and looked to the Autobots, "It's my fault- I shouldn't have yanked him back and forth through the warp. It took a while for me to convince the council he wasn't going to tell you guys, and even then they didn't exactly trust him."

Elita moved toward them, and looked at Red Alert, "You're actually letting her walk around?" She teased, and before he could answer said, "So what's her name?" motioning to the tiny Cybertronian.

Destiny smiled, "Pax- and don't say a thing to me about the name- Reddy was the one who named her."

Elita chuckled, "Of course the scientist would come up with a name that… well, lacking in creativity." Red Alert shook his head, and handed Pax to Elita cautiously, as if afraid she would break if she left his or Destiny's arms.

She snickered tenderly, "I felt the same way when Orion and Destiny were young. Believe me Red, I won't let anything happen to little Pax."

Everyone seemed to be talking at once, Orion, Turbine, and DeathScythe were bantering on about how cute she was, even Jetfire mumbled about the cuteness of Pax. Destiny looked at Optimus, and moved over to talk to him, "Demority?"

Optimus put a hand on her shoulder, and whispered, "I missed you Ariel Pax."

"I missed you too Optimus. I wish I could've told you we were alive but-"

"It's alright. I understand."

Red Alert touched Destiny's arm, "You and Pax should go to recharge Love. I don't think it'll be good for her to be online with this many people around yet." He murmured.

She nodded, and looked at Optimus briefly, then moving over and taking Pax back into her arms. She walked toward the guardian quarters, murmuring softly to the sparkling.

"Is she…?" Jetfire asked Red Alert carefully.

"She'll be alright- her internal systems are still unstable, but other than that…"

"Daddy! Ace hit me!" Cody yelled, running up to Red Alert.

Ace followed, "Liar! Daddy! He's lying!"

Red Alert seemed at a loss, Elita spoke up, "I think it's time for you to put them to recharge too." She motioned to the bickering sparklings.

DeathScythe nodded in agreement, "You should go to bed too Chaser."

Chaser's green optics welled beneath his clear visor, "But I'm not tired!" he whined.

DeathScythe shook her head and picked him up, "Come on Blurr, good-night everyone."

"Mom! Putmedownputmedownputmedown!" He shouted, crying and kicking. Blurr followed shortly after, waving goodnight to the others. Red Alert shooed Ace and Cody down the hall too, not even acknowledging the other's existence.

"Did you see that? It was like he doesn't even-" Hotshot began, but Elita waved her hand dismissively.

"Everyone who comes here from being in the war changes- especially when they find what they loved ones they thought were dead." She explained quietly.

Turbine shook her head, "Not everyone changes that much…"

Elita looked to Orion, a small smile on her face, "And some change more."

The door opened, and a tall silver, white and gold femme entered. Her visor was soft blue, and her face was stern. "Where's Destiny Prime." It was clearly an order, not a suggestion.

Elita stepped up, "She is in recharge, where she should be. She needs rest not a conversation with a council member Starr Prime."

"She asked me to find her as soon as-"

"Did you not here me Starr? Destiny needs rest, as does Pax!" Elita snapped with a half-mocking stuck-up tone.

Starr looked over to Aquarius Prime, but then said, "I may be of higher rank than her, but I'm trying to help her! She asked me to find help for these bamboozles that followed her and her bondmate through the portal! And I don't know what your foolish Autobot codes are- but Servants of Primus keep their promises!"

Elita gaped a moment, not quite sure what to say. But then Destiny was in the doorway, whispering, "Well Starr? What did he say?"

Starr nodded, "He's willing to hear your case. He may even go further with it."

"Right, I'll go now." Her footing slipped, and Destiny fell to her knees.

"No you won't." Red Alert was behind her, pulling her back to her feet, mumbling, "I don't know how you even got out here in the first place…"

"I'm fine Reddy, don't be silly."

"Don't pull that." He growled, he then turned to Starr, "She's not going anywhere tonight. Understand?"

Starr nodded, "He'll wait until tomorrow morning."

"He is not that patient Starr. I'll go now-"

"You will not Arie." Red Alert mumbled.

Hotshot blinked, looking around, seeing others just as confused and somewhat frightened alike him. Turbine was looking at Jetfire with amazement, a small smile on her face, when no one was looking she tapped his shoulder, then tapped her right wrist to his, a spark going between them, and she looked at him questioningly, and he nodded, grabbing her hand in his. A smile broke out beneath his mask- she remembered.

"Pax hum?" Starr asked. "The name suits her- she is going to be a good Servant of Primus one day, she's going to keep the soon to come peace."

"What do you mean?" Destiny growled.

"Everything is written in the stars Destiny- everything that has ever been, or ever will be, you just need to know how to read them." She again looked to the Primes, then said, "Jiuk zsav shaul ri su go radjan di kiasi."

"Su radjan di kiasi." Destiny answered.

"Are you sure you want to go this soon?"

"As sure as I'm a creator of three." Destiny responded tartly. She looked over her shoulder at Red Alert, "I can make it back to our quarters- and I'll stop in and say goodnight to them, can you help Elita and the others show them to the temporary quarters?"

Red Alert shook his head, "No- I'll go with you- goodnight friends." He left with Destiny.

"I'll be back at first sunrise." Starr muttered, walking out the door.

Elita was silent a moment, she then gestured down another hall, "Come this way- there are plenty of rooms- you kids and Minicons alright with sleeping in the Minicons quarters?" They nodded, and everyone followed Elita and the Primes down the hall, Orion going out the door saying he needed to go someplace.

* * *

Turbine and Jetfire hung back and when the others were halfway down the hall Turbine pulled Jetfire in the opposite direction, "Jetfire- are we…?"

He nodded, "It took a lot of control for me not to tell you- I just wanted you to remember our bond first. I love you- you know that?" She nodded, and then pulled his arm, "Huh?"

"You are my bondmate correct?" He nodded, "So then come with me."

"Where?"

She smiled, still tugging him, "To my quarters- maybe yours too soon enough." She opened the door to her quarters, and then pushed him in playfully.

* * *

Elita pointed to the rooms the group would stay in, "You can decide amongst yourselves who recharges where- Spitfire!" She called, a green Minicon left a room promptly, chattering questioningly, "Show those humans and Minicons to the Minicon quarters. Alright?"

Optimus looked at the Minicon, "Spitfire? Destiny's partner?"

Elita nodded, shooing the tiny robots and humans in the right direction, she turned to leave, but Optimus stopped her, grabbing her arm, "What?"

"I want to talk to you."

Elita glanced at the Autobots and shook her head, "Fine- but not here. Come with me." She took him down the hall and around a corner. She looked at him when they were around the corner, smiling, "Well? What is it?" She leaned back on the wall, hands behind her head.

Optimus looked away from her face, the seductive position she was in making him nervous and agitated, "Elita- please! I want to be serious!"

"I know Paxie, I just… well… you know how long it's been just like I do…" She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I know, but please… You need to understand-"

"I do- you're team needs you for now, but we can wait here for you- on Tolerace, until all are one." She rested her head on his, nuzzling him, "You can be such a pain in the aft, or the gentlest mech in the universe. I love you Optimus Prime- and I want to spend the night with you tonight, just like we did when the war itself was just a challenge- that we knew we could overcome together."

Optimus smiled, "And everyone says I make long speeches."

"You do hon, now come on."

* * *

Done, happy? Anyway, RnR please-Now I have my last HW assignment to complete. YESSSSS!


	13. The Great One

Um… okay, there's a lot of mushy crap in this chapter, threaded with information that's important later on, I'm evil, but I blame… hum… who do I blame… Oh! School being out- that just gives you a warm fuzzy feeling everywhere- right? Yeah, I'll let you guys read the chappie now.

* * *

Shadows of Them

The Great One

Red Alert felt his arms being moved aside, "Where are you going?" He asked, his optics flickering on, he saw Destiny Prime getting out of their recharge berth, reaching for her helm.

She looked at him, surprised, "Sorry I woke you Reddy." She whispered, putting her helm on her head- covering the blue-purple fiber-optics on her head, "I just want to… to get there before first sunrise." She looked like she was about to speak, but then moved toward the door.

"Arie, what's wrong? Ever since I arrived you've been acting like you need to tell me something- but you never say it, please tell me Love." He sat up, concern plastered on his face.

"Reddy it's just that…" she sat next to him and let him wrap his arms around her, nuzzling his chest, "Do you have any regrets?"

He frowned, "What do you mean, of course I do, everyone does."

"I-I mean… major ones."

"Love- I have too many of those to count, I was a war-time medic remember."

She was silent a moment, then whispered, "Do you regret bonding with me so soon? Do you regret having our sparklings? Do you regret leaving your team medic-less to be with me and our sparklings?"

He seemed startled, he smiled, shaking his head, "Not for a moment. I would never regret our relationship or sparklings, ever. And I don't regret leaving that silly war to be with my family."

"But aren't your friends part of your family? And what if… because you left… they lost their lives?"

"They'll be fine."

"What if they lose?" he gave her a look that begged to understand, she nuzzled his chest, "What If Megatron wins?"

"Don't worry- he won't."

"You don't know that!What if he does because you aren't there to repair them- to help them! What if… What if the Black Hole isn't stopped? It'll reach hear eventually!"

He was silent, shocked at the series of events she was showing him, "And what if I don't make it back to you?"

She shivered, "That was the reason I brought you to Tolerace, I-I saw…" he looked at her quizzically, "I hate my Primus-given power. I don't see how things happen- just where someone ends up…"

"You're afraid that if I stay they'll lose, and if I go I'll not make it back. Love, you know that's silly."

"But it's true." She looked to the floor, "I know this is hard to accept- but when I saw your friend Vector Prime… I saw it… how close his end is… and I just… I know that this war is to fault. I just…" She got up and walked again toward the door.

"I'm going with you." Red Alert grumbled, dragging himself out of the berth.

"I'll be fine Reddy! I'll be back before second sunrise _Love_."

"Are you mocking me?"

"No, you're new accent." She hit the button on the door, opening it, "I won't be long Reddy."

"Who exactly are you going to see? You haven't told me."

She looked back at him from the doorway, "I'm going to see the oldest being on the planet."

"Vector Prime?" He joked dryly.

She chuckled and shook her head, "No. Older." She shut the door behind herself, leaving him wondering who was older than Vector.

"Getting a early start?" Elita-1 asked, suddenly directly in front of her.

"Elita I-… I just…"

"I know where you're going- you're going to see The Great One!" She put her hand on her shoulder, "You have no idea what you could be getting yourself into! Please… re-think this."

"Comility, I have. I shouldn't have pulled Red Alert back- it has endangered everything! I have to fix my mistake!"

Elita was silent a moment, then smiled, "You're so much like Optimus… I just… I can hardly believe it."

"What are you talking about? That's ridiculous!"

"You're both born leaders, and just like him you sometime act first on instinct, then try to go back and repair what you've done wrong- neither of you have ever swept anything under the rug in your entire lives!"

Destiny rolled her optics, shaking her head, "Comility…"

"Alright- just remember, The Great One always punishes those who feel they've made a mistake."

"I know. I know…"

* * *

Destiny crossed the Forrest Zone quickly, endangering herself as little as possible- she knew she still wasn't at full strength. She eventually excited the forest at a dry, warm, place, a castle-like structure in the middle of the barren-looking land. She entered through a cave on the side of it, walking down quickly, and eventually coming to a lit room.

The room had shimmering portals scattered throughout it, an infinite number of them. Destiny was aw-struck. A voice, booming yet "nasally", laughed at her reaction, "Our multi-vers is only one of many Destiny, each with a different path, some more similar than others, and others completely different from this one."

She spun to see a rather small being entering, she fell to her knees, "Master Primacron!"

"On your feet Servant of my creation." She obeyed without question, "Now, what is it you want me to do for you?"

"I want you to please-please allow the Autobots to go back to the outside world and stop the Black Hole! The council would never let them return."

His rather large eyes narrowed, "And why are you the one begging this case?"

"Because it's my fault they're here. I was afraid for my bondmate's life, so I pulled him here, and… his friends followed. I shouldn't have-"

He raised his thin, bony hand, his long, extremely loose robes slipping down his arm "What do you regret most- And I don't mean just about bringing them here, tell me what you regret most throughout your life."

She was silent a moment, then whispered, "To be honest… I regret running off when I was a sparkling and my spark merging with one from a Servant of Primus…"

"Come with me- I want you to see why you shouldn't regret fate, a multi-veric dimension similar to our own, minus a few primary details." He walked down through the room, Destiny Prime obediently following. He stopped in front of a portal emanating a more shadowy glow than others close to it. "We live in a dimensional section with all the multi-verses that have Transformers. The multi-verses I helped create."

She looked at him in surprise, "But what does that have to do with-?"

"Look into this portal- and see what you would have become had you not joined into one." Hesitantly, Destiny reached out her hand toward the portal, and there was a flood of information into her systems, memories that were hers, but not her own.

They were the memories of Empress.

* * *

Ha! Chapter is done! HA! Ha! Ha-ha! Okay, Okay I'm done. All done. Yeah, review please, much much more will be explained later. And now- to study for tests later this week- or… ice cream… I chose ICE CREAM!


	14. Good intentions?

Just so you lot know, I perpousfully had Jetfire and his mate stay in quarters until past that planets version of noon. And in response to Tigerprime, not everyone who acts "nice" has good intentions. Enjoy!

* * *

Shadows of Them

Good intentions?

The kids awoke, stomachs grumbling. Bud looked up, not realizing where he was, "Mom, why didn't you wake me for breakfast- huh?

"Remember Bud, we're not home." Kobe murmured.

"Do you think the Transformers here know what people eat?" Bud asked.

"Well, they said they've had humans here before…" Lori muttered, pulling herself up.

"Of course we do!" a chipper human voice cooed, entering the room with a platter of fruits like none they'd ever seen. They looked at her, she had dark skin, dark brown hair, brown eyes; her hair tied back in a partial bun, pale blue clothes and sandals, and a bright smile facing them.

"Wow! That looks really good!" Bud exclaimed.

The girl nodded, she couldn't have been more than seventeen, "Yeah- the food here is amazing, it's even better fresh, but this is a few days old."

Bud grabbed a blue-colored fruit, biting into it, grinning as the pink juice within it dripped down his face, "Wow! This is a million times better than McDonalds' food!"

Kobe and Lori tried the fruit too, both having similar reactions. The girl smiled, "I'm glad you guys like it."

Lori looked at her, "What's your name?"

She smiled, "They call me Kamirra- I don't remember what my name was when I was on earth."

"Don't you miss your family?"

Kamirra shook her head, "Not at all- I didn't have a family, I lived in an orphanage in Africa."

"That's so sad…" Lori whispered.

"Not really- I'm happy now, and that's all that matters. I've been asked to show you lot and your Minicons friends around Tolerace, are you ready? I've got a lot to show you, and not a lot of time before you go to see the council!"

"Uh… where exactly are you taking us…?"

Kamirra smiled, "Just to show you around. Arial Alert volunteered to help me too, I've just got to get her up and around so come on!"

She motioned toward the door, Lori spoke first, "Wait a moment… why aren't you eating anything?"

"I already ate, long before I woke you guys." Lori wasn't satisfied, but decided not to pester.

* * *

About an hour later, Destiny Prime entered the Guardian quarters with a scowl on her face, her optics dark. Red Alert looked up, startled at how she had entered with no words, just the door snapping open. "Mommy!" Code Red ran towards her, but she didn't seem to hear or see him.

Elita-1 looked at her creation in shock, "What happened?"

"Nothing Elita." Destiny hissed, sending shivers down her creator's body.

"What's wrong Love?" Red Alert asked, moving toward her, moving his hand to touch her shoulder.

"Don't touch me." She snapped, giving him an icy glare.

Code Red hid behind Red Alert's leg, "Daddy, what's wrong with Mommy? She's scaring me!"

"I'm not sure Cody. Arie, tell me what's going on."

"I'm fine!" she snapped, storming to her and Red Alert's quarters, "I just need some alone time."

Pax let out a cry, she couldn't see anyone, and her mother's harsh voice only scared her more. Destiny paused to look at Pax, she almost went to her, but then seemed to think better of it. She continued to go down the hall, optics dimmer than she ever remembered them being.

Turbine was stumbling down the hall with two cups of energon, one for her, one for Jetfire-they had had a long night. She smiled when she saw Destiny, "Hey Destiny!" Destiny didn't recognize her being there, and just entered her quarters, leaving Turbine confused in the hall.

Destiny fell onto the recharge berth, liquid dripping from her optics. Her systems felt over-loaded, her body weak. She looked over the edge of the bed, whispering, "Primacron can be such a bastard." she off-lined her optics, allowing the information that had been forced into her systems to flash through her mind.

The day she had fallen to be saved by Primus- but in this… reality she never crossed it- she had been too afraid to. The Ariel Pax in that other reality was a cowered, but she had something that Destiny's spark had shielded Ariel Pax's from, a dark streak.

The other reality's Ariel climbed the Autobot ladder of command easily enough, anyone who stood in her way disappeared, and she was only loyal to the most powerful being she knew, or knew of, Megatron. To prove her loyalty she even killed her creators and brother, stealing the Matrix from Optimus Prime just before killing him, the Matrix's stolen power making her systems even more unstable, re-formatting her into Empress.

Most disturbing to Destiny, was that Empress bonded and created sparklings with Megatron. Not only that, but the pair destroyed any and all Autobots they came across, even destroying the sparks of Primus and his servants, allying themselves with Unicron.

"Love? May I come in?" Red Alert knocked on the door, speaking softly and cautiously.

Destiny wiped the liquid away from her optics, "Yeah Red, you can come in."

He entered, closing the door behind him, sitting next to her and running his hand up and down her back, "Are you ready to talk?"

"No, not yet. Reddy I just… I hate myself right now." Red Alert looked at her carefully, forcing her to sit up and held her, "Reddy, I don't want to talk about it."

"You've forgotten, I have had to deal with Hotshot for years, I can be unbelievably patient."

She smiled slightly, "Yet I also know that you can have an unbelievable short fuse Reddy." She rested her head on his chest, optics flashing uncontrollably.

"Love, please don't shut me out." He whispered to her, hoping she'd open up.

"I can't _talk_ about it, but I could show you…"

He looked at her in surprise, "Destiny, we shouldn't re-bond for a third time, you're in enough danger from yourself as it is."

"It isn't as though I've injured myself… besides, I want you to know, I just… I don't want to say it aloud. Please Reddy?" He groaned, she was right, and he wasn't about to tell her no, and he knew she knew that.

* * *

Arial Alert ran up the road, the humans and Minicons running behind her. She pointed to a large circular building, "That's the council's headquarters. They make all the important decisions. That's also where trials are held."

"Thanks Ace- but you're supposed to be helping, not leading!" Kamirra taunted.

"Well yeah, but you're slow."

"You have longer legs than me!"

"Ace!" Starr Prime approached, hands on her hips, "Why aren't you home?"

Ace cocked her head sideways, "Why should I be home? I promised I'd help show them around, so what?"

"Your mother might just want you around, after all, this morning she did go to see The Great One."

"What!" Ace shouted, looking at her accusingly, "You sent her to talk to The Great One! Are you nuts?"

"Master would not harm her purposefully Ace."

"Says the faithful!" Ace snapped.

"Mind your manners to him Ace, I know you haven't had the best experience with her, but he is the creator's creator."

"And the destroyer's creator." Ace pointed out in annoyance.

"Who are you talking about?" Bud asked.

"Primacron. He built the first transformers, and he's older than our… 'dimension' itself." Starr explained.

Ace folded her arms, "He's also an self-loving-arrogant busy-body." She pointed back down the road, "I'm going home to make sure Mommy's okay."

Starr nodded, "It is true she may've gotten in over her head while speaking to Master Primacron… He can be… unpredictable…"

"Whatever!" She ran off, not looking back.

* * *

"Destiny? Destiny? Can you hear me Love?" Red Alert was holding her lovingly, trying to shake her awake. He hated to let this burst of information from her go un-deciphered, but his mate's safety came first. She had been out for nearly an hour, and he was more than concerned.

He nuzzled her cheek, knowing that it stirred her, "…Mm?" she groaned, optics fighting to flicker online.

"Welcome back to the world of the waking Love. How do you feel?"

"Exhausted… worried… nervous… relieved…"

"Well, that's better than some things you could be feeling with what you've been through today."

"Yeah, it's barely past second sunrise and today has already been one of my worst. Don't get me wrong Hon, I've had worse, but…"

"I know Love. You should rest Arie, but I want to check your stabilizers first."

A pounding on the door jolted their attention, "Mommy! Mommy! Are you okay? Daddy! Let me in!"

Red Alert smiled every time he heard his sparklings call for him, he would never admit it to his male friends, but he loved them more than he'd ever love anyone. "I'm coming Ace, hold on a moment."

"Is Mommy okay?" she demanded.

He walked across the room and opened the door, "She will be sweetheart."

Ace ran past him at those words, "Mommy!" she ran over and hugged her, "Did Primacron hurt you?"

"No no Ace, he just showed me what would have happened if I could fix my biggest regret- but then I wouldn't have you Cody, Pax or even your Daddy. I have no regrets now sweetie."

Ace shook her head, "Mo-om! I'm not a baby anymore! Pax is the baby now!"

Destiny looked to Red Alert, "Where is Paxie?"

Red Alert patted her should, "I'll go get her and Cody Love. I'll be back in a moment."

"Thanks Reddy."

"Yuck!" Ace whined at her creators being mushy, making them smile fondly at her. "Don't be all mucky!" Red Alert shook his head, laving to get Cody and Pax.

* * *

There, I decided to end on a ootsi-cutesie note. So Sid, if you don't stop bothering me I swear to Primus above-… Yeah… RnR please peepies! 


	15. Allergy

Okay, I know it's been a while since I updated this story- sorry by the way. But I've been busy. Last week my cousin's Grandfather Ed died from cancer(I was really close to him, his wife (alive) baby sat me before I started school, they were like a third set of grandparents to me) they didn't know he had it until it was too late. My cousins' have been having graduations left and right, I need to start packing to go to NYC Friday, then on a cruise a couple days after that to Canada, I haven't even started packing yet. And I just Plain haven't had it in me to write about this, I've been doing shorter stories instead.

Well, I should stop rambling and let you read the chapter already.

* * *

Shadows of Them

Allergy

"Honey, calm down, uh… Lori called me and told me she was staying the night at her friend Samantha's, she just forgot to give me her number…" Robert or Fred as he preferred to be called tried to calm his wife as she frantically asked him where their daughter was, he hated lying to her, but at the same time he wished he had had someone to lie for him when he disappeared because of the Autobots. He just hoped Optimus Prime was being more careful with humans now.

The phone rang, and his wife waved her hand, "Honey, will you get that?"

"Yes dear." He picked up the phone, "Hello?"

"Hey Fred, it's Bill. I was wondering if you'd seen Lori or my boys at all…?"

"No Bill, sorry, I think they're with um… friends." He covered the phone-mouth, "I can't talk about it right now Bill."

A sigh reached his ears from the phone, "Alright then, I'll talk to ya later than Fred. Bye."

* * *

"Um… guys? I don't feel so good…" Bud knelt on his knees, holding his stomach in pain, "I feel like I swallowed fire…"

"Bud-dude!" Jolt shouted, worried about his keeled-over friend.

Lori put a hand on his head, "He's running a fever; we need to get him somewhere he can rest…"

"Nonsense, he's probably just hungry." Kamirra didn't sound worried, she actually seemed happy. She pulled a pink and purple fruit from a bag on her hip, "Eat this Bud, it will make you feel better."

"It looks poisonous to me." Lori muttered.

Jolt held out his hand, "Let me scan it please Miss Kamirra."

She clutched it, making green juice drip from it, "That isn't necessary, I've been eating this kind of fruit since I arrived, and it's fresh so there's no way it could be a bad piece of fruit."

Kobe looked at her suspiciously, "What if he's allergic to the fruit on this planet?"

"Don't be silly!" Kamirra knelt next to Bud, she then squeezed the juice into her hand, making a pool of swirling green liquid, "Go on- drink it."

"Kamirra!" A blue, red and white mech approached, clearing his throat, "My scanners show he's having an allergic reaction, stop trying to make him drink more of it."

"But Ultra Magnus-!"

"No buts!" He transformed, opening his door, "Get in kids, he should see Red Alert and Arial Alert."

"You know them?" Lori asked as they climbed into him (the Minicons transforming to follow him), Kamirra looking ashamed.

He laughed as he began to drive, "Of course I do! Arial Alert is my Niece's sparkling."

Kobe blinked, "Are you related to Optimus or Elita?"

"Optimus is my brother- you know him?"

"Yes, we came to this planet with him and his team, we were just trying to track down Red and see if he'd come back… But now I don't know if we should take him back. We don't even know if we'll be able to get back home."

Ultra Magnus drove faster, the Minicons barely keeping up with him. He was silent for a while then whispered, "Knowing my brother- neither hell, nor high water, nor even Megatron will stop him from getting you kids home where you belong. I'm sure of it."

"Thanks Ultra Magnus."

* * *

Red Alert looked down at Arial Alert and Code Red, they were curled up in Destiny Prime's lap, beginning to doze off. Red Alert's arms were wrapped around his bondmate, their youngest sparkling Pax in Destiny's arms. Pax's yellow visor was glowing looking at her creators.

Destiny pointed to herself almost cooing to the little sparkling, "Mommy, Pax, can you say Mommy?" the little sparkling smiled and hugged her. Destiny sighed and pointed to Red Alert, "What about Daddy? Can you say Daddy?"

Pax pointed to Destiny, "Mada!" then to Red Alert, "Dama!"

Destiny and Red Alert looked at each other, optics and visor flickering, saying in synchronization, "Mada and Dama?"

"Mada!" Pax chirped, hugging her primary creator again.

Code Red's optics flickered back online, "Ace, isn't that cute? Pax thinks Mommy is Mada and Daddy is Dama."

Ace smirked, "At least Mommy's new nick-name sounds kinda like Mother, Daddy's just sounds weird."

Destiny shook her head, "Oh Ace… you're so like you're Daddy, a rather… dry sense of humor…"

Red Alert shook his head just before his communicator sounded, he groaned, wishing their tender family moment hadn't been interrupted, "Red Alert, what is it?"

Ultra Magnus' voice came through the com, "Red Alert! I need you and Ace at the entrance pronto, I'll be there in about fourty clicks!"

"Why?"

"You're human friend Bud is having a serious allergic reaction to the food here, he needs medical attention."

Ace jumped off the recharge bunk, running over to the door, "Daddy! What are you waiting for?"

Red Alert move swiftly off the bunk, reaching his arm with the communicator up to his mouth, "We'll be there in ten clicks waiting."

* * *

Optimus Primewas speaking with Elita-1, DeathScythe and Blurr, they lookied up when they heard two sets of footsteps approaching. Red Alert and Ace ran through, opening the door. Optimus looked at them, "What's going on?"

"Bud had an allergic reaction to the food here, he needs medical attention." Red Alert answered, waiting.

"Is the boy going to be alright?" Blurr asked.

"We'll have to look at him first, if it isn't too bad Ace should be able to fix him."

Optimus raised an optic ridge, "He isn't a robot, how can she fix a human?"

Ace smirked, "Primus' gift Grandpa. It isn't as strong as the other servants gifts, but I can repair things and people, even human people, and they're usually okay."

The kids and Minicons ran in carrying Bud, Ultra Magnus following short behind. Optimus blinked, "Magnus?"

DeathScythe waved her hand, "Hi Demority."

"Hi Sweetheart." He muttered, looking at Red Alert, "I'm worried about him, his temperature has been rising since-"

Ace tapped the side of her helmet and a scanner dropped down over her optics, she looked to Kobe, "I'm assuming 103.547 is a bad temperature for humans?" Kobe shook his head, Ace nodded in understanding, "I should be able to fix him." She seemed to scan his entire body, "The focus point seems to be here." She pointed to his lower stomach.

She placed her hands on his stomach, her hands glowing slightly. Almost immediately he stopped sweating and began breathing more normally. Ace fell backwards, Red Alert catching her in his arms, "Ace?"

"I'll be okay Daddy… this is why I hate fixing humans often though, it kinda hurts."

Red Alert cradled her tenderly, "I know Ace."

Code Red ran over, "Bud and Ace going to be okay Daddy?"

Red Alert nodded, "They just need rest Cody. Where's you're primary?"

Cody shrugged, "I still say you Calling Mommy my Primary is wierd Daddy. Mommy was gonna come, but Pax is throwing a fit, don't know why…"

"It was because she felt Red Alert's concern, like Starr Prime said, she is effected by the emotions of others." Destiny was holding Pax tenderly in the hall entrance, "She is usually right you know."

Pax smiled when she saw Optimus, "Oose!"

"Oose?" Optimus muttered quizzically, "She thinks my name is Oose?"

Red Alert snorted, "It's closer than Dama."

"Dama? She thinks you're name is Dama?" DeathScythe laughed as Red Alert nodded, "That's so cute!" she glanced at Blurr, "Ya know Blur…"

"Don't even think about it, we agreed on one." Blurr grumbled, ignoring her arms wrapped around him, "And don't try the puppy face, that works on me as well as Chaser's puppy-face does."

"Riiiight…"

Elita shook her head, "When is their trial?"

Destiny looked to the floor, "Three hours."

Pax cocked her head sideways in confusion, "Mada?" as if asking what was wrong. At not receiving an expressional answer, she looked at Elita, "Ta-un?"

Elita smiled, "Ta-un was you're first word Destiny…"

Destiny rolled her eyes, "Comility…"

"TURBINE!" They heard Jetfire bellow, his footsteps pounding from the hall, Turbine ran in, smirking and triumphantly holding up his face mask. He ran in after her, his hand over his mouth, "Slaggit Turbine! If you don't give that to me right now I swear to Primus…!"

Turbine dangled it in the air, "What're ya gonna do, take it from me? Ha!"

Several other 'bots had come at the ruckus, including Gaea Prime, "What in the name of Primacron…?" when she saw Turbine holding up Jetfire's facemask, Gaea laughed, "Ah… so, you're keeping you're bondmate in his place…"

If Jetfire's optic ridges could be seen, they would have been set in an angry stare, "Turbine, just hand it over…"

She smirked, "Give me one reason not to smash it."

"Um…" he scratched his head with his free hand, shoulders suddenly slumping, "Uhg… You win."

"Okay Jets." She kissed him on the partially exposed cheek, handing him his mask back, "That's all I wanted to hear."

Jetfire turned his back to the group and re-attached his mask, turning back muttering, "You're nuts."

She got up in his face, "At least I'm not an egotistical-"

"Oh don't get started with me on who has the biggest ego- you know I'll win."

Hotshot blinked, "Whoa… weird…"

Vector Prime put a hand on Hotshot's shoulder, "You'll understand when you're bonded son."

Override shook her head, "Excuse me, but when exactly is it that we'll know when we can go back to earth or not?"

Scattershot nodded in agreement, "That would be nice to know."

Landmine looked at Destiny, "Well Sweetheart? When do we get to find out when we're going home?"

"Don't you mean if Landmine? But… in about three hours."

Pax reached out to Landmine, "And!"

Landmine smiled, "Little cutie isn't she?" He glanced at Red Alert and jokingly said, "Now where in the universe did she get that from?"

"Slag you Landmine." Red Alert said bitterly.

"Ag!" Pax chirped, giggling at the startled looks on the adult's faces.

"Um… Perhaps we should go to see the council a bit early…"

Ultra Magnus nodded, "Agreed sister."(This was said metaphorically, like calling a mother-in-law mother, this is a "sister-in-law" being called sister)

Red Alert nodded, "I think that's the second best idea I've heard all day." Muttering so low under his breath that no one but the daughter in his arms heard him, "The best being spending alone time with my bondmate and sparklings…"

Kamirra interrupted, "I didn't mean to hurt Bud, but no one has ever had such a terrible reaction to the food here on Tolerace, so I just thought…"

"It's okay Kami." Destiny whispered, "He's alright now. Just try to be more careful with newcomers."

Kamirra nodded, "Thanks for the vote of support."

* * *

Okay People, I'm done. What'd ya think? RnR if it isn't too much trouble. 


	16. Trial

I may or may not get to upload one more chapter before going on a cruse, assumeing we still go... My dad did something to his leg, he's hurting bad, so we might not go.

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

Shadows of Them

Trial

Bud had to crane his neck back to see the huge circular building above him; he had regained consciousness just a few minutes before approaching the large spherical building. The building was at least four times higher than the smaller more homey buildings near it, and it was more than twenty times longer. Bud looked at Spelunk, "I wonder what that building is…" The miniature bot on Bud's shoulder shrugged, staring at the building.

Kobe's miniature bot partner Deep Water shrugged, "Maybe you should ask Red Alert."

Zipline sighed from Lori's shoulder and fluttered up toward Red Alert, "We wanna know what that big building is."

Code Red smiled, "That's the council hall, there's a rehabilitation center beneath it."

"Rehabilitation?" Lori asked.

"Uh-huh, people who are too violent to be allowed into the society immediately." Cody answered, "Copy Cat was in there for a while, but he's a good citizen now."

Red Alert snorted before growling, "Or at least he pretends to be."

Ace giggled, then whispered to the kids, "Daddy really doesn't like him, Mommy says it's because before she met Daddy she dated Copy Cat." Destiny Prime bit her lip component hard at the look Red Alert was giving her, she knew it hadn't been good to lie to their sparklings, but the truth would have been worse.

Elita-1 leaned in to whisper something to her older creation, "Is you're brother coming to the trial?"

Destiny shook her head, "No, he has duty with Freia, and we both know he'd never miss a chance to spend extra time with _her_." Elita smiled, nodding.

They approached the huge doors that were guarded by to very large meches, the larger of the two folded his arms, "Name and reason for visit."

Destiny folded her arms; she then started speaking to the guard in another language, "Cor vois ui paho corve dusuis Blockade."

He retorted, "Cuine na koca Destiny."

She pointed to the Autobots behind her, "Resho fi oa abrille."

"Oa abrille? Desconu? Jiha!" He waved them in, motioning for his partner to unlock the door with him; it required two matches at the same moment to enter.

"Savba Blockade." Destiny retorted as the door opened, waving the bots and humans behind her in.

When the door closed behind them, Hotshot looked at Destiny in surprise, "What was _that_ about?"

Destiny looked back at him in surprise, "It's far more polite to speak to someone in their language than it is to speak to them in your own. Besides, Blockade's language skills aren't that good in any but his own. So it was also just easier."

Cody grabbed Destiny's leg, looking up to her with a quivering lip, "Mommy, Daddy's staying here right, if the council lets Grandpa and his teammates go to back to earth?"

"Um… Scythe?" Destiny looked at DeathScythe, who was keeping a close eye on her son Chaser. Scythe looked up at Destiny, clearly asking what Destiny wanted. Destiny approached her, cradling Pax in her arms, Destiny whispered to her friend and cousin, "Would you mind keeping an optic on Ace Cody and Pax? I don't want them at this trial."

DeathScythe nodded, "Don't worry Destiny, Blurr and I'll keep an optic on them during the trial."

Blurr folded his arms, "Why do you insist on volunteering me for things you want to do?"

"Because we're bonded, ergo, you have no choice." Blurr grumbled something under his breath as Scythe took Pax from Destiny's arms and Scythe gestured to Cody and Ace to follow them away.

Ace stomped her foot, "Why do can't we go in! I've watched other trials before!"

Destiny was about to speak to her when Red Alert held up his hand, "Ace, go with DeathScythe and Blurr right now."

"But Daddy!"

"Go." Red Alert had never used such a harsh tone with his sparklings before, so Ace did as told.

Ultra Magnus looked at Red Alert and Destiny, the two seemed to be sharing a unspoken unease, something was wrong. Magnus' optics met Destiny's, they told him all that he needed to know, something was going to happen at this trial, and it wasn't anything sparklings needed to hear or see. What was it?

* * *

The kids and their miniature bots stayed like glue with the Minicons, the huge circular room was ominous, especially since those not on trial had to stay to the sides, seven large seats around them, Starr Prime in one of them.

Starr stood up, looking at the 'bots in the other seats, "Council members, case 92344100460, there has been a request for them to be allowed to return to the planet they came from."

A dark colored mech cleared his throat. Looking at them, "If I'm not mistaken Starr, isn't that against all regulations?"

"And so is allowing a black hole to swallow the universe, including Tolerace!" Destiny shouted, approaching the central hub.

The dark mech glared at her, "You have no place to be so rude to us; you've broken enough regulations."

"Isn't saving life across the multi-verse more important than old regulations?"

A silver-blue femme cleared her throat, "Don't be impudent Bleak, Destiny may have a point. If they are not released then the black hole may not be stopped."

The dark mech jumped up, "You always take the underdog's side Artemis! You have no grasp of the rules!"

A gold mech held up his hand, "Watch your tongue Bleak, we worry about Tolerace as much as you do, but you must think reasonably."

Bleak snorted, looking to a dark femme beside him, "What do you think Shock?"

Shock sighed, "I agree with Apollo, we need to approach this logically." She looked to a green mech, "Soaul? What do you think?"

Soaul shrugged, "Well, I'm not sure."

A bright orange femme shook her head, "They've all been in war so long I'm not sure it would be wise to keep them in our society, I also don't think it would be wise to free them either…"

"You bring up a good point Juika." Starr pondered, folding her arms.

A door opened slowly, more light coming from the doorway than the entire room. Every member of the council rose to their feet, Juika gasped, "Master Primacron! You haven't left your temple for a hearing in…"

"8000 years." Primacron answered tartly, "I've come at the request of Destiny Prime."

"Primacron! I thought you were just a legend, a story Primus told the servants as an explanation of whom created he and Unicron!" Vector Prime exclaimed, optics wide.

Primacron waved his claw-like, bony hand, "Think nothing of it Vector." He turned to the council, "I believe Destiny has something to say about this trial, and she should be allowed to say it. Believe me, it is important."

Destiny moved to the circle, Red Alert at her side, she looked up, "I believe that leaving should be an allotted option, to anyone." She glanced at Red Alert, "Anyone."

Ultra Magnus resisted getting up, he suddenly knew what Destiny was about to say. He looked at Elita, wondering if she'd realized it too. Elita shook her head when her optics met Magnus', she had worked so hard to get Red Alert to stay with her, and she was about to throw it all away. Destiny felt optics on her, some wondering where she was going, others knowing.

"Including Red Alert, they need him; they need everyone who's willing to help them. And those children need to be with their families."

Starr raised an optic ridge, "You wanted to get him here so badly, and now you want him to go?"

Red Alert interrupted, "Destiny and I have discussed it, and I agree with her."

Juika shook her head, "I thought you were a servant of Primus, Protecting the area assigned to you!"

Destiny shook her head, "It is true I am a servant of Primus, but I am an Autobot first. And a true Autobot does what is necessary to protect the entire universe and beyond. My sworn duty is to protect. End of story."

Primacron looked at the council, "If you will not give them permission to leave I will have to take destroying that black hole into my own hands, and release Tornatron, my third, pure-energy creation."

Starr stomped her foot, "If you dare release that monstrosity again…"

Primacron waved is hand, "If you release them I won't have to."

"Slimy, blackmailing bastard." Bleak hissed, "I vote they go."

Shock shook her head, "I won't submit to blackmail. I vote they are put in rehabilitation."

Soaul shook his head, "I vote they go."

Apollo let his head droop, "I vote attempted rehabilitation."

Juika rose her head angrily, "What is wrong with you? Submitting to blackmail like sheep! They should not be aloud to leave! And that is my vote."

"They should be aloud to leave long enough to stop the Black hole at least!" Artemis snapped, standing up for her own opinion.

Bleak looked up at Starr, "Dead draw. We need a tiebreaker Starr."

Starr looked at Destiny, "You aren't going to stop here are you? You're going to try to get the force field dropped."

Destiny folded her arms, "I'm taking this one fight with the council at a time."

Starr's shoulder's fell, "They are to be allowed to go home."

* * *

Well? Like it, hate it, Let me know, there's only going to be one, maybe two more chapters left, so... yeah... RnR please! 


End file.
